News

A team of researchers localized the specific types of neurons involved in movement, work that might be of relevance to understand neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s and Huntington’s. The study, entitled “Cell-Type-Specific Sensorimotor Processing in Striatal Projection Neurons during Goal-Directed Behavior,” was published in Neuron. Neurodegeneration occurs when…

Researchers at King’s College London have identified a gene, HIFalpha, that plays a role in the regulation of nerve signals from damaged mitochondria that, in turn, affect nerve cell function, and which holds out the possibility of eventually finding a way to turn that gene off and restore function. The…

Researchers at the Georgetown University Medical Center reported nilotinib (Tasigna® by Novartis), a treatment for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), successfully treated Parkinson’s disease and Lewy body dementia patients in a Phase I trial. The complete results were presented during the annual meeting of the society of Neuroscience, Neuroscience 2015, held in Chicago…

Burlington, Massachusetts-based, medical market research firm Decision Resources Group (DRG) reports, citing analyses of U.S. longitudinal patient-level claims data, that the Parkinson’s disease (PD) drug treatment algorithm remains highly stable, with levodopa (either alone or in combination with carbidopa) as its foundation. Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a…

Valley View, Ohio-based Great Lakes NeuroTechnologies (GLNT) have announced receipt of a new allowance of claims from the U.S. Patent Office focused on technology for Parkinson’s disease (PD) diagnostics and treatment. This particular patent application covers a method of measuring Parkinson’s motor symptoms such as tremor, bradykinesia, and rigidity, and…

California-based biotech, International Stem Cell Corporation (ISCO), will present results of its studies on a novel treatment for Parkinson’s disease during the Neuroscience 2015 Conference, Chicago. ISCO announced it will host an oral presentation at the conference, focused on the preclinical development of human parthenogenetic neural stem cells (hPNSCs) to address the neurodegenerative condition. International Stem Cell Corporation…

Researchers at the Biotech Research and Innovation Centre (BRIC), University of Copenhagen, have linked lack of signaling by the immune system-regulating cytokine Interferon-beta (IFNβ) to the on-set of non-inheritable Parkinson’s disease (PD). The research paper, entitled “Lack of Neuronal IFN-β-IFNAR Causes Lewy Body- and Parkinson’s Disease-like Dementia”, was published…

Over time, levodopa and dopamine agonists’ treatment in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients can become ineffective to control involuntary movements. Laboratory studies on PD animal models suggest that physical training may help to alleviate these symptoms offering an alternative form of therapy. Now, a research team at Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense in Brazil…

The Parkinson’s Disease Foundation (PDF) has recently opened applications for its eight grant programs, which will be granted to projects focused on solving, treating and ending Parkinson’s disease (PD). The foundation aims to use the research grants to support the studies of established leaders in the field, as…

In a newly published paper in the Cerebral Cortex journal entitled “Dopamine D1 Receptor-Mediated Transmission Maintains Information Flow Through the Cortico-Striato-Entopeduncular Direct Pathway to Release Movements,” researchers from Japan reported that lack of dopamine transmission through D1 receptors is linked to slower movements…