News

People with severe non-motor symptoms related to Parkinson’s disease (PD) have a smaller thalamus compared to those with similar but mild to moderate symptoms, a brain imaging study suggests. Sleeping and gastrointestinal problems are also tied to atrophy (shrinking)…

A wrist-worn medical device — called the Personal KinetiGraph or PKG — that reminds people with Parkinson’s disease to take their medication, and records their movements to provide physicians with objective measurements of motor symptoms, showed great promise as a tool to improve clinical decision-making, a study found.

The Parkinson’s Foundation is launching a new initiative called Parkinson’s Revolution, a global cycling event designed to highlight the benefits of exercise in Parkinson’s disease while also raising funds for research. A new signature event for the foundation, Parkinson’s Revolution is an indoor cycling program taking place Feb. 8…

Medtronic, a medical technology company, announced that its Activa patient programmer technology for deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy is now available to U.S. patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other movement disorders. The new programmer, approved by the FDA in July, is used with a customized…

Inappropriate antipsychotic medications — those approved for ills like schizophrenia but used to treat depression — given to elderly people with Parkinson’s disease increase their risk of pneumonia, a study suggests. The study, “Risk of pneumonia associated with atypical antipsychotic use in nursing home residents with Parkinson’s…

Parkinson’s UK and Alzheimer’s Research UK have teamed up to help fund a project that will test whether a “waste disposal system” in the brain could be exploited to help in the understanding and treatment of these diseases, Parkinson’s UK announced. The new project, which is expected to…

Researchers have discovered a new enzyme that might aid in “putting the brakes” on Parkinson’s by inhibiting the LRRK2 pathway, known to play a critical role in this neurodegenerative disease. The findings are still at an early stage, but the team is already trying to find compounds that can…

Researchers have developed a computer model of the mouse brain that integrates both Parkinson’s disease-related genetic risk factors and the animals’ brain networks to help them understand how abnormal alpha-synuclein protein spreads and how neurodegeneration progresses. The study, “Spread of α-synuclein pathology through the brain connectome is modulated by…

The impact of climate change and environmental risk factors on brain health was spotlighted at this year’s World Congress of Neurology, a gathering of scientists and clinicians to discuss the latest advances and future developments in neurology. The recent XXIV World Congress of Neurology in Dubai, United Arab Emirates,…

Researchers have developed algorithms that work with wearable sensors to continuously monitor tremor, and estimate total tremor, in Parkinson’s patients as they go about their daily routines. Analyses of sensor results using one algorithm, in particular, were similar to an established test assessing tremor without being dependent on the time the…