Steve Bryson, PhD,  science writer—

Two studies support the safety and tolerability of Nuplazid (pimavanserin) in older or frail adults with psychosis associated with Parkinson’s disease. Safety data on Nuplazid, the only medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat Parkinson’s-associated psychosis, were presented at this year’s International…

Changes in the levels of thyroid hormones in the bloodstream are related to cognitive impairments in people with Parkinson’s disease, according to a new study by researchers in China. “Our findings provided definite proof that changes in thyroid hormone levels have clinical implications for cognitive outcomes” in Parkinson’s,…

Nearly all people with Parkinson’s disease taking part in Medtronic‘s ADAPT-PD trial had symptom-related brain signals strong enough to trigger adaptive deep brain stimulation (DBS), known for short as aDBS, according to early data. Among the findings: that results were similar regardless of disease severity or the location…

About 1 in 5 people with Parkinson’s disease in Italy have a family history of the disorder when the analysis extends beyond first-degree relatives to second- and third-degree relatives, a large-scale study has shown. First-degree relatives are comprise parents, siblings, and children. Second-degree relatives are aunts, uncles, grandparents, grandchildren,…

Scientists have discovered how to therapeutically target a class of molecular switches called GTPases that are involved in Parkinson’s disease and other conditions but have long been considered undruggable. The findings of this work, led by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), “create a long-awaited opportunity…

Nearly 1 in 3 people in Japan with Parkinson’s disease also had sarcopenia, a progressive loss of muscle mass and strength, according to a new study. The researchers found that measuring the circumference of the calf, or the distance around the thickest part of the lower leg, was the…

Levels of the trace metal selenium and its associated proteins, called selenoproteins, are altered in the blood of adults with Parkinson’s disease, a study reported. Two of these affected proteins, selenoprotein P (SelP) and selenoprotein S (SelS), were examined, and the researchers suggested that selenium and SelP levels could…

Five top models for a wearable sensor that can monitor and measure freezing of gait (FOG) — a sudden inability to walk — in people with Parkinson’s disease were developed as the result of a three-month, international machine-learning contest launched by scientists at Tel Aviv University in Israel. The…

Adaptive deep brain stimulation (DBS) outperformed traditional DBS in alleviating motor symptoms and enhancing the quality of life for people with Parkinson’s disease, a pilot study shows. In adaptive DBS, nerve signals associated with motor fluctuations are detected in real time and stimulation is automatically adjusted to ease…

A complex of proteins involved in cellular trafficking, called the BBSome, plays a role in regulating the transport of dopamine, the nerve cell signaling molecule that’s deficient in Parkinson’s disease, a study reveals. “Given the significant medical impact of altered dopamine signaling in multiple neurobehavioral disorders, further studies of…