News

Nerve cell damage in a specific area of the brain impairs motor function and slows thought, both of which are symptoms of Parkinson’s disease, a mouse study finds. The study, “Loss of glutamate signaling from the thalamus to dorsal striatum impairs motor function and slows the execution…

Neuropsychiatric symptoms, combined with levels of alpha-synuclein, can be used to distinguish dementia with Lewy bodies from Parkinson’s disease dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, a study shows. The study, “Neuropsychiatric symptoms and α-Synuclein profile of patients with Parkinson’s disease dementia, dementia with Lewy bodies and Alzheimer’s…

The 2018 Science & PINS Prize for Neuromodulation was awarded to Nir Grossman, PhD, for his research to stimulate deep and specific regions of the brain without surgery as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease and other disorders. Grossman, who is an assistant professor at Imperial College London and a…

Parkinson’s disease patients who have a tendency to fall use different strategies to control their balance than those who do not fall, according to a recent study. The study, “Fallers with Parkinson’s disease exhibit restrictive trunk control during walking,” was published in Gait and Posture. Due…

The Michael J. Fox Foundation is continuing to support the advancement of Parkinson’s disease research by investing up to $7.5 million in projects proposed by investigators, the nonprofit recently announced. Funding will be considered for projects aimed at the following four areas: exploring new biological targets for therapeutic development;…

Insulin resistance, a condition in which cells fail to respond normally to the hormone insulin, affects almost two-thirds of non-diabetic Parkinson’s patients despite normal blood sugar levels, according to a study. This finding suggests that insulin resistance may be a common undetected condition in Parkinson’s disease, especially in patients who are…

Aptinyx has launched a Phase 1 clinical trial of NYX-458, a potential treatment for cognitive impairment in Parkinson’s disease patients. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial will be conducted in roughly 62 healthy volunteers to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of the compound. Pharmacokinetics refers to a drug’s…

Denali Therapeutics’ reports that its investigational compound for Parkinson’s disease, DNL201, was found to be safe and well-tolerated by healthy individuals in a Phase 1 clinical trial. The company is planning to advance the compound into a Phase 1b study in patients, a press release states. DNL201 is an inhibitor…

“Traffic jams” that occur along nerve cells in the brain and disrupt the transport of mitochondria were found to be a significant cause of Parkinson’s disease, a study reports. In particular, researchers found that alpha-synuclein protein aggregates, the hallmark of Parkinson’s, impair the movement of mitochondria, which provide…

Loss or inactivation of a single gene copy of LRRK1 or LRRK2 — LRRK mutations being a common genetic cause of Parkinson’s disease — neither increases the risk nor protects against the disease, a new study showed. These findings also support the use of kinase inhibitors targeting mutant LRRK2 as a…