Patricia Inácio, PhD, science writer —

The Speech Accessibility Project continues to seek participants for its initiative, which focuses on enhancing voice recognition software for people facing speech difficulties like those associated with Parkinson’s disease. The project gathers voice recordings from people with Parkinson’s and related neurological conditions, such as multiple system atrophy…

Ventus Therapeutics has dosed the first participant in its Phase 1 trial testing VENT-02, a novel oral therapy that features an inhibitor that reaches the brain and targets NLRP3 — a protein that’s linked to brain inflammation in Parkinson’s disease. The trial aims to assess the safety and…

Medications commonly used in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease may affect the body’s ability to control its core temperature, part of the body’s so-called automatic functions, which include sweating, a review study found. Such agents — which include anticholinergic medications and cholinesterase inhibitors, dopamine replacement therapies, and dopamine…

A new campaign from Acorda Therapeutics encourages people with Parkinson’s disease to consider whether an on-demand treatment, such as its approved therapy Inbrija (levodopa inhalation powder), is right for them when faced with off episodes — periods of time when medication stops working and symptoms return.

Researchers have found a novel mechanism through which mutations in a gene called PRKN, linked with early-onset Parkinson’s disease, play a crucial role in familial forms of the disorder. The study found that PRKN gene mutations lead to a disruption in the communication between two vital components within the…

Small vesicles that contain the protein alpha-synuclein may help distinguish Parkinson’s disease patients from healthy people, according to a meta-analysis. When isolated from easily accessible samples, like the blood, these vesicles may “reflect changes in the brain,” researchers wrote in “Extracellular Vesicles for the Diagnosis of Parkinson’s…

Lacosamide, a medication approved to treat epilepsy, showed a potential to be neuroprotective in a rat model of Parkinson’s disease, a study reports. Treatment with lacosamide significantly prevented the loss of dopamine-producing neurons that marks Parkinson’s, boosted dopamine production in key areas of the brain, and improved motor function…

Parkinson’s disease patients’ quality of life significantly improved with Duopa, a formulation of levodopa and carbidopa infused directly into the intestines, and subthalamic deep brain stimulation (DBS), but not with a continuous subcutaneous apomorphine infusion, according to a real-world, single center study. Apomorphine also didn’t show any major…

A research project to help enhance communication for individuals with Parkinson’s disease has been awarded a multimillion-dollar grant. The five-year grant from the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), was given to a team of researchers led by…

The immune response triggered by UB-312, an experimental vaccine by Vaxxinity, effectively targeted alpha-synuclein protein aggregates and slowed their toxic buildup in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of Parkinson’s disease patients in a Phase 1 trial, compared with those given a placebo, data show. The full target engagement triggered…