Patricia Inácio, PhD, science writer —

The significance — physiological and clinical — in the interaction of two proteins known to be associated with early onset Parkinson’s disease, PARKIN and PINK1, is detailed, possibly for a first time, by researchers. Their study, “Phosphorylation of Parkin at serine 65 is essential for its activation in vivo,”…

Johns Hopkins researchers have identified a specific cell death pathway named Parthanatos — after Thanatos, the ancient Greek personification of death — that leads to the physical and intellectual degeneration associated with Parkinson’s disease. They also found that a protein called PARP-1 is a key mediator of cell death via Parthanatos, supporting the…

Engaging in regular exercise can help preserve the motor and non-motor function of Parkinson’s disease patients, most likely as a result of an increased release of dopamine in the brain, a small study suggests. The study, “Habitual Exercisers Versus Sedentary Subjects With Parkinson’s Disease: Multimodal PET…

Rodin Therapeutics will evaluate a new imaging agent that allows the visualization of human synapses — the junctions between two nerve cells that allow them to communicate — in the living brain. Results from the study will guide the company’s upcoming Phase 1b trial of a new therapeutic compound designed to strengthen…

A new transgenic Parkinson’s disease mouse model is able to recapitulate the motor symptoms and biological causes of disease, including alpha-synuclein protein aggregation, a study reports. Similar to Parkinson’s patients, this model also responds to levodopa, one of the main compounds used to treat symptoms of the disease. The study, “Abrogating Native…

One in two women and one in three men older than 45 will develop Parkinson’s disease, dementia or stroke during their lifetime, a new study suggests. Preventive strategies to delay disease onset can reduce this risk by up to half. The study with those findings, “Lifetime risk of common neurological…

People with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), an umbrella name for disorders marked by prolonged inflammation of the digestive tract, are at a higher-than-usual risk for Parkinson’s disease, a review study involving 8.9 million IBD patients suggests. The study, “The risk of Parkinson’s disease in inflammatory bowel disease: A…

People diagnosed with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), usually detected at an early age in hyperactive children, may have an increased risk of developing Parkinson’s and Parkinson’s-like diseases, a new study suggests. “Parkinson’s disease is commonly thought of as a neurodegenerative disease associated with aging,” Glen Hanson, PhD, professor at the…

A well-known monkey model for Parkinson’s disease — used mainly for its ability to mimic human motor symptoms — can also reflect the disease’s non-motor symptoms, including sleep disturbances, changes in the body’s natural clock, and cognitive impairment, a study shows. These results highlight the usefulness of…

A fish that can sense the Earth’s magnetic field while it swims could help scientists understand how the human brain works and eventually unlock strategies to help control movement impairments in patients with Parkinson’s disease and other neurological disorders, a study reports. The study, “Wireless control of cellular function by…