Magdalena Kegel,  —

An article from Nature Communications detailed validation for a new gut model called HuMiX, allowing the study of interactions between nutrients, human intestinal cells and bacteria. The close mimicking of intestinal conditions will allow further exploration of the impact of gut microbiome on the onset of Parkinson’s disease…

Therapies intending to increase dopamine levels in the brains of Parkinson’s patients have struggled to adequately regulate signaling. But researchers have now engineered transplant dopamine neurons that might be switched on or off using designer drugs — suggesting these transplants might be a viable way of treating Parkinson’s via dopamine release after…

A University of California, San Diego, study shows that the same brain system involved in a sudden stop in physical movement also interrupts cognitive processes. The findings hold implications for Parkinson’s disease, where cognitive impairment is a major symptom. The study, “Surprise disrupts cognition via a fronto-basal ganglia…

Researchers from Monash University in Australia have published an overview of risk factors and potential protective ones in Parkinson’s disease. Published in the journal The Conversation, the article highlights how little is really known about this devastating disease. Age is among the known risk factors, but age in…

That the formation of alpha-synuclein aggregates, formed by misfolded forms of the protein, is somehow linked to Parkinson’s disease development is a fact few would dispute. Whether preventing the formation, or increasing the clearance of these protein masses, possibly by vaccination, as a viable approach to treatment is, however, a…

For the first time, researchers have identified the point at which alpha-synuclein – the protein whose aggregation leads to Parkinson’s disease – becomes toxic. The findings, published in the journal PNAS, shed new light on the toxicity processes leading to disease development and might provide clues in the…

Scientists have discovered a mechanism preventing Lewy bodies from forming in laboratory animals, allowing for the development of better animal models of the disease. This will likely speed up research into the disease and aid in the development of drug therapies. The main feature of the brains of Parkinson’s patients is the presence…

A study published in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution shows that the global gene regulator GABPa is controlling uniquely human genes – and may contribute to diseases like Parkinson’s. The team, led by Robert Querfurth, explored the gene regulator – known as a transcription factor in scientific language –…

A recent article in the Harvard Gazette suggests dance as a potential treatment for neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease (PD). Imaging studies have identified several brain regions involved in the complex, rhythmical, and coordinated movements that constitute dance. The motor cortex is — as with other kinds of voluntary…

A new study from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, published in the journal BRAIN, sheds new light on the processes leading to aggregation of the protein αlpha-synuclein in the brain of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). It has been proposed that the aggregates propagate in a fashion similar to prions,…