Nonmotor symptoms in spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs)

Nonmotor symptoms (NMS) have been increasingly recognized in a number of neurodegenerative diseases with a burden of disability that parallels or even surpasses that induced by motor symptoms. As NMS have often been poorly recognized and inadequately treated, much of the most recent developments in the investigation of these disorders has focused on the recognition and quantification of NMS, which will form the basis of improved clinical care for these complex cases. NMS have been only sparsely investigated in a limited number of spinocerebellar ataxias (SCAs), particularly SCA3, and have not been systematically reviewed for other forms of SCAs. The aim of the present study was to review the available literature on the presence of NMS among different types of SCAs.