News

A new tool that analyzes speech using real-world, web-based recordings — participants are recorded via a webcam and a microphone connected to a personal computer or laptop — identified Parkinson’s disease patients with 74% accuracy, a study demonstrated. Moreover, this speech tool — called Parkinson’s Analysis with Remote Kinetic-tasks,…

More research is needed to understand how alpha-synuclein — a protein whose accumulation is characteristic of Parkinson’s disease — affects cells other than nerve cells, particularly microglia, the resident immune cell of the brain. A pair of researchers at the Van Andel Institute in Michigan raised this argument after…

Neuropathy, or nerve damage, was linked to abnormally low levels of the vitamins B6 and B12 in three people with Parkinson’s disease, according to a case report. “All patients were consecutively identified within one year at a single institution,” the researchers wrote, which suggests that neuropathy associated with low levels…

Reduced dopamine signaling leads to abnormal activity in the motor cortex— the part of the brain chiefly responsible for controlling movement — a new study in mice illustrates. This result helps to shed light on the biological underpinnings of Parkinson’s disease, which is characterized by abnormally low dopamine levels…

The first Parkinson’s patient has been dosed in a Phase 1 clinical trial that is testing IkT-148009, an investigational oral therapy being developed by Inhibikase Therapeutics to slow or stop disease progression. “We are pleased to begin dosing patients in our Phase 1b study,” Milton Werner, PhD,…

A grant from the Parkinson Voice Project will be used to enhance the training and resources available to speech language pathologists and graduate students with the RiteCare Center for Communication Disorders at Georgia Southern University. Such awards, whose sum was not disclosed, are given annually by Parkinson Voice Project (PVP) through…

Mapping of a brain circuit that is of particular relevance to neurological diseases such as Parkinson’s and Huntington’s revealed key features about its architecture and information flow, a study in mice reported. This brain circuit involves a looping connection between the cortex, the basal ganglia, and the thalamus…

People with Parkinson’s disease are significantly less likely than those without the neurodegenerative disorder to develop colorectal cancer, a type of cancer that begins in the final part of the digestive tract, a new meta-analysis suggests. In fact, the analysis showed that the risk of developing such cancer…

Nearly four of every 10 patients with Parkinson’s disease experience minor hallucinations, a new study from China estimates. Results suggest a link between minor hallucinations and Parkinson’s-related sleep problems. The study, “Prevalence and Risk Factors for Minor Hallucinations in Patients with Parkinson’s Disease,” was published in …

No differences in cognitive abilities were identified between men and women with Parkinson’s disease, according to a recent study. Although no tests were conducted, the researchers suggested the lack of cognitive differences between male and female patients, which is found in aging healthy individuals, may be due to the…