Author Archives: Kara Elam

A collaborative effort between two Russian technology institutes may result in a virtual reality system that is able to detect and diagnose such neurodegenerative diseases as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and multiple sclerosis. According to the Virtual Reality Society, virtual reality systems would allow a healthcare provider to conduct diagnostic assessments without the need for more invasive,…

Evidence has shown a potential connection between chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection and neurological and psychiatric disorders such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). In a recent study, investigators sought to determine if the disease was, in fact, a significant risk factor for Parkinson’s development. Their findings, in a study…

The NIH recently announced it has awarded a $413,000, two-year grant to Dr. D. Allan Butterfield, PhD, a researcher at the University of Kentucky (UK) Department of Chemistry and Sanders-Brown Center on Aging (SBCoA), to study a new model of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Dr. Butterfield who is…

Researchers from the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy are using patients’ own immune cells to enhance the brain’s ability to heal damaged nerve fibers caused by degenerative neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease. This innovative research is being conducted in the laboratory of Dr. Elena V Batrakova, PhD, Associate Professor at the UNC Eshelman…

Recently, a group of researchers from the Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), in New York, have identified the physiological reason why dyskinesias, the involuntary motor movements experienced by patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) who are treated with levodopa, occurs. The study, entitled, “Loss of Striatonigral GABAergic Presynaptic Inhibition…

This week, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researcher, Ann M. Graybiel, Ph.D. whose laboratory is part of MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research and is focused on studying brain structures that are important for normal brain function but are also implicated in Parkinson’s disease, released results from a study…

A multidisciplinary team of researchers from the Sheffield Institute of Translational Neuroscience (SITraN), in collaboration with scientists from the University of York, have recently released results from a study that supports the fast-tracking of the drug ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), which has already been in use for decades to…

Recently, researchers from the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) released results from X-ray crystalography analysis of the the neuropeptide hormone neurotensin, which has been shown to be involved in Parkinson’s Disease (PD).  Their research resulted in the first images showing how…

Recently, a group of researchers from the Buck Institute for Age Research in Novato, California released study results in which they found that low-dose lithium reduced involuntary motor movements – the troubling side effect of the medication most commonly used to treat Parkinson’s disease (PD). The study, entitled, “…

A multidisciplinary team of researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), have recently released results from a retrospective study showing that Glitazone, a type of drug used to treat diabetes may reduce the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease (PD).  The study, entitled, “…