Overview

• The review analyzed 80 studies spanning five decades and was published in npj Parkinson’s Disease.
• Patients with initial right-sided motor symptoms experienced accelerated global cognitive decline and higher dementia incidence.
• Those with left-sided onset were more likely to develop depression, anxiety and challenges in emotion recognition.
• Researchers recommend integrating motor symptom asymmetry into Parkinson’s diagnostics to enable personalized care.
• Future research will standardize asymmetry measurement methods and explore whether similar lateralized patterns occur in related disorders.