In the second half of the 19th century, Paris became an international center for neurological studies largely because of Jean-Martin Charcot and his Salpetriere School. Charcot was named Professor of Diseases of the Nervous System at the University of Paris in 1882, and thus helped institutionalize neurology as a medical specialty. By then he had already published widely and had assembled a team of research specialists and students who approached the study of the nervous system through the celebrated methode anatomo-clinique that correlated specific neurological signs with discrete...

For many years, the need to develop valid tools to evaluate signs and symptoms of Parkinson Disease (PD) has been present. However the understanding of all intricacies of rating scales development was not widely available and the first attempts were relatively crude. In 2002, the Movement Disorders Society created a task force to systemize the measurement of Parkinson's Disease. Since then, the Task Force has produced and published several critiques to the available rating scales addressing both motor and non-motor domains of Parkinson Disease. Additionally the task force initiated a project...