News

NIH $1.9M research grant will fund detailed study of amyloid fibrils

A five-year project funded by a National Institutes of Health (NIH) research grant totaling nearly $1.9 million will study amyloid fibrils, protein clumps that are a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative conditions. This work may shed new light on the disease-causing mechanisms related to these fibrils —…

Mitochondrial DNA damage evident before Parkinson’s: Study

People with REM sleep behavior disorder, a condition that often precedes Parkinson’s disease, frequently have mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage, a study found. “Patients with REM sleep behavior disorder, both those who subsequently developed Parkinson’s disease and those who did not, had more mitochondrial DNA circulating in the cerebrospinal fluid…

AI platform will design precision Parkinson’s, neurological therapies

Manifest Technologies has completed initial funding and a partnership with Johnson & Johnson to apply its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform toward developing precision treatments for neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s disease, the company announced. The NAIO (Neuroscience and Artificial Intelligence Optimized) platform integrates neuroimaging data from humans and…

Spotlight on education, research for Parkinson’s Awareness Month

The focus of this year’s Parkinson’s Awareness Month, starting today, is on research and a better understanding of the neurodegenerative disorder that affects more than 10 million people globally. World Parkinson’s Day on April 11 is at the center of the observance. Parkinson’s disease can cause a broad array…

VPS13C defects disrupt lysosomes in dopamine neurons

Defects in the VPS13C protein, which have been linked to early-onset Parkinson’s disease, disrupt the function of lysosomes, the cell’s recycling compartments, in dopamine-producing nerve cells that are lost in the neurodegenerative condition. Without functional VPS13C, the Rab10 protein can’t respond properly to lysosomal stress, causing dysfunction in the…

Neuroinflammation tied to mood disturbance in early Parkinson’s

New study findings strengthen scientists’ belief that neuroinflammation — an inflammatory response in the central nervous system — is linked to mood disturbance in people with early Parkinson’s disease. Specifically, elevated levels of pro-inflammatory signaling molecules in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) were found to be significantly correlated with worse…