Corticobasal Degeneration

Symptoms of Corticobasal Degeneration

Symptoms of CBD usually begin after age 60. The initial symptoms of CBD are often stiffness, shakiness, jerkiness, slowness, and clumsiness, in either the upper or lower extremities. Other initial symptoms may include dysphasia (difficulty with speech generation), dysarthria (difficulty with articulation), difficulty controlling the muscles of the face and mouth, or walking and balance difficulties. Symptoms usually begin on one side of the body, and spread gradually to the other. Some patients (probably more than commonly recognized in the past) may have memory or behavioral problems as the earliest or presenting symptoms.

CBD is a progressive disease, meaning the symptoms worsen over time. Over the course of one to several years, most people with CBD gradually worsen, with symptoms progressing to involve upper and lower extremities and other body regions. Symptoms of advanced CBD include:

• parkinsonism (rigidity, slow movements, postural instability)
• tremor
• myoclonus (sudden, brief jerky movements)
• dystonia, including blepharospasm
• speech difficulty
• mild-to-moderate cognitive impairment (memory loss, difficulty planning or executing unrehearsed movements, dementia)
• sensory loss
• "alien hand/limb" phenomenon (difficulty controlling the movements of a limb, which seems to undertake movements on its own, sometimes combined with a feeling that the limb is not one's own)