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Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans could be used to detect early and subtle markers of cognitive impairment in people with Parkinson’s, which may help predict patients’ prognoses and disease progression, a recent study suggests. Such early detection also allows people with the neurodegenerative disease to start…

An experimental model of Parkinson’s in non-human primates leads to the accumulation of iron — known to contribute to the underlying causes of the disease — in a brain area linked to motor control. This metal accumulation can be detected using a neuroimaging technique called susceptibility-weighted imaging, according…

The Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP) for Parkinson’s (PD) has opened a data portal with de-identified information from 4,298 Parkinson’s patients and healthy control subjects for use by scientists seeking new treatments for the progressive neurodegenerative disease. With unprecedented access to a data pool of this…

High exposure to oral broad-spectrum antibiotics and those that kill anaerobic bacteria and fungi is associated with a high risk of Parkinson’s disease within the next decade or more, a study finds. The findings were reported in the study “Antibiotic Exposure and Risk of Parkinson’s Disease in…

Sunovion Pharmaceuticals has re-submitted a new drug application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), once again seeking the approval of its below-the-tongue formulation of apomorphine — called APL-130277 — for Parkinson’s off periods. The re-submission is a follow-up to the FDA’s “complete response…

Researchers have found new gene networks associated with the development of Parkinson’s disease, which may help them understand the underlying mechanisms of this neurodegenerative disorder and identify potential new therapeutic targets. The study, “The landscape of multiscale transcriptomic networks and key regulators in Parkinson’s disease,” was published in…

A small molecule that can protect the function of mitochondria — known as the powerhouses of cells — and prevent cell death can also prevent brain damage in a rodent stroke model, highlighting its potential as a possible therapeutic candidate for neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson’s disease, a study…

Changes in facial expression are limited by Parkinson’s disease, and people with PD also are less able than others to read emotions expressed through facial changes or shifts in eye gaze, a study suggests. Its researchers say this “impaired emotion recognition” may be related to problems patients have with social…

Implantable electrodes made of glassy carbon may be safer for use in MRI scans than traditional electrodes made of metal for people who undergo deep brain stimulation, a new study shows. The study, “Glassy carbon microelectrodes minimize induced voltages, mechanical vibrations, and artifacts in magnetic resonance imaging,” was…

Investigative collaborators from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) and the University of Rome Tor Vergata in Italy have been awarded the fifth annual Bachmann-Strauss Prize for Excellence in Dystonia Research. The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) for Parkinson’s Research presented the awards recently to UAB’s David…