Progressive supranuclear palsy
neurodegenerative disease characterized by supranuclear gaze palsy, postural instability, progressive rigidity, and mild dementia
Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a late-onset neurodegenerative disease involving the gradual deterioration and death of specific volumes of the brain, linked to 4-repeat tau pathology. The condition leads to symptoms including loss of balance, slowing of movement, difficulty moving the eyes, and cognitive impairment. PSP may be mistaken for other types of neurodegeneration such as Parkinson's disease, frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease. It is the second most common tauopathy behind Alzheimer's disease. The cause of the condition is uncertain, but involves the accumulation of tau protein within the brain. Medications such as levodopa and amantadine may be useful in some cases.
PSP was first described by Richardson, Steele, and Olszewski in 1963 as a form of progressive parkinsonism. However, the earliest known case presenting clinical features consistent with PSP, along with pathological confirmation, was reported in France in 1951. Originally thought to be a more general type of atypical parkinsonism, PSP has been linked to distinct clinical phenotypes including PSP-Richardson's syndrome (PSP-RS), which is the most common sub-type of the disease. As PSP advances to a fully symptomatic stage, many PSP subtypes eventually exhibit the clinical characteristics of PSP-RS.
PSP of all phenotypes has a prevalence of 18 per 100,000, whereas PSP-RS affects approximately 5 to 7 per 100,000 individuals.
“Progressive supranuclear palsy” enters the record as neurodegenerative disease characterized by supranuclear gaze palsy, postural instability, progressive rigidity, and mild dementia. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Progressive, supranuclear and palsy can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Progressive supranuclear palsy” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Progressive, supranuclear and palsy provides the most credible route into that argument.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 27, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q945930. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1963 and 1951.
The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Progressive supranuclear palsy”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Progressive supranuclear palsy primary sources, Progressive supranuclear palsy archive and Progressive research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Progressive supranuclear palsy”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Progressive supranuclear palsy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.