Lindsey Shapiro, PhD, science writer —

Older women with Parkinson’s disease are more likely to be sedentary throughout the day, spending less time engaged in healthy physical activity — particularly the moderate to vigorous exercise tied to slower progression — than do women without the neurodegenerative disease. Female patients around age 70 also spent more…

A specific subset of dopamine-producing nerve cells in the brain appear to respond to movement acceleration and correspond with the region where cell death is particularly pronounced in Parkinson’s disease, according to a recent study. These neurons were responsive only to movement, and not to rewarding stimuli, which long…

Parkinson’s disease patients with urinary incontinence (UI) exhibit distinct brain activity networks compared with patients without the bladder symptom, according to a recent study. Urinary incontinence was linked to stronger functional interactions between brain regions implicated in Parkinson’s disease and others linked to brain-bladder control. Findings overall “will provide…

A diet rich in legumes — a food group including beans, soybeans, and lentils — was associated with a lower probability of Parkinson’s symptoms starting to appear, a stage called prodromal Parkinson’s disease, in adults under age 70 with REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD), a study in South Korea…

Mutations in the LRRK2 gene might contribute to Parkinson’s disease by suppressing the activity of lysosomes, the cell compartments responsible for clearing misfolded proteins and other cellular waste, according to a recent study. In cell culture experiments, Parkinson’s-associated LRRK2 mutations were linked to reduced lysosome activity in microglia and macrophages,…

A research lab at the University of Denver in Colorado has received $300,000 in funding from the Parkinson’s Foundation to develop and test potential treatments for Parkinson’s disease. The Foundation’s Stanley Fahn Junior Faculty Award was granted to Sunil Kumar, PhD, an assistant professor of molecular and…

A specific protein associated with sex hormone production may shed light on the sex-related differences in Parkinson’s disease observed between men and women, according to a recent study. Levels of this protein, called retinoic acid receptor-related orphan receptor alpha (RORA), are higher in the blood of men with the…

Intensive treadmill exercise improved motor and cognitive function in a rat model of Parkinson’s disease and was linked to its ability to restore a cellular process called neuroplasticity in a recent study. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to adapt and re-wire in response to new experiences. “We have…

A digitally delivered dual-task training (DTT) program was just as good as a standard physical therapist-led one at improving gait in people with Parkinson’s disease, a small clinical trial suggests. Eight-week DTT programs, which are designed to improve patients’ ability to multitask when moving, led to significantly increased gait…

Activating the Nurr1 protein eased both motor and smell deficits and showed neuroprotective properties in mouse and cell models of Parkinson’s disease in a recent study. The newly developed Nurr1 activator, called 4A7C-301, also did not induce dyskinesia, the involuntary movements associated with certain standard Parkinson’s treatments,…