Steve Bryson, PhD,  science writer—

The natural compound kaempferol — which acts as a potent antioxidant — can reduce the physical and behavioral symptoms of Parkinson’s in a fruit fly model of the disease. According to the researchers, this molecule may exert its protective effects by…

Working-age adults with Parkinson’s disease who received deep brain stimulation (DBS) showed better social and occupational functioning than those who received the best medical therapies alone, a study has found. As such, the authors suggest, DBS could be prescribed to…

Researchers have developed a highly sensitive but low-cost method to detect dopamine, which may help in the early diagnosis of several disorders characterized by abnormal dopamine levels such as Parkinson’s disease, a study has found.  For the first time, the new…

A direct causal link was found between two major underlying features of Parkinson’s disease — mitochondrial defects and lysosomal malfunction — in dopamine producing neurons that lacked the PARK2 gene, which is mutated in some cases of early-onset disease, a study discovered. …

With a single treatment, scientists were able to transform brain cells into functioning neurons that restored dopamine — the signaling molecule deficient in people with Parkinson’s disease — to normal levels, eliminating motor symptoms in a Parkinson’s mouse model. The results,…

Lower than usual activity in a complex that recycles proteins in cells — called the proteosome — leads to an age-related buildup of protein aggregates in the brains of fish, similar to that seen in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, a study reported. Low proteasome activity…

A survey of people with Parkinson’s disease in Iran found significantly higher levels of anxiety due to the COVID-19 pandemic among them compared with the general population, a study reported.  Patients’ anxiety was primarily driven by fears of contracting the virus as well as not having…

An oxygen-free (anaerobic) formulation of dopamine infused directly into the brain of monkeys with induced Parkinson’s safely improved both their motor and cognitive symptoms, according to a new study. These findings support a proof-of-concept clinical trial of this treatment approach, adapted to people with the disease.

Delivering a gene therapy directly to the substantia nigra, an area of the brain affected by Parkinson’s disease, led to sustained protein production for up to eight years, a post-mortem of analysis of two patients revealed. The therapy’s use failed to show…

An important signaling pathway that helps protect brain cells from neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease is also required for sleep in fruit flies and zebrafish, according to a study. The findings support a link between sleep loss and neurodegenerative diseases.