TABLE 1.

Demographic and clinical characteristics of the three main groups (controls, PD and MSA patients)

Group	Controls	PD	MSA
N	26	23	26
Female/male ratio	15/11	11/12	15/11
Age (years)	66 ± 5	64 ± 7	64 ± 8
Years since disease onset (years)		7 ± 4	6 ± 2
UMSARS‐II			30 ± 8
UPDRS‐III		19 ± 10
MMSE	29 ± 1	29 ± 1	28 ± 2

Note: Data are mean ± SD.

Abbreviations: MMSE, Mini‐Mental State Examination; MSA, multiple system atrophy; MSA‐C, MSA subtype associated predominantly with cerebellar symptoms; MSA‐P, MSA subtype associated predominantly with parkinsonian symptoms; PD, Parkinson's disease; UMSARS‐II, motor score of the Unified MSA Rating Scale, Part II; UPDRS‐III, motor score of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, Part III.