Dopaminergic News and Research

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Researchers define the process of Parkinson's disease using genetic mouse model

Parkinson's Disease is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder. In Germany alone, almost half a million people are affected. The focus of the disease is the progressive degeneration of dopamine-producing nerve cells in a certain region of the midbrain, the substantia nigra. Misfolded proteins are the cause. Until recently, it was unclear why damage is confined to specific nerve cells.

16 Oct 2014

Brain structure changes differ between schizophrenia symptoms

The specific areas of the brain with reduced grey matter in patients with schizophrenia differ according to whether they have predominant positive, negative or disorganised symptoms, research suggests.

2 Oct 2014

HSP90 suggested as potential therapeutic target in PD

Heat shock protein (HSP90) has been suggested to be involved in neuronal protein misfolding and accumulation in Parkinson's disease (PD) brains leading to dopaminergic neuronal death and the eventual dopamine depletion.

28 Aug 2014

In vivo dopaminergic imaging strongly correlates with brain pathology

Striatal dopamine transporter binding, assessed using single-photon emission computed tomography, is strongly correlated with substantia nigra cell counts assessed at postmortem, say the authors of a study.

11 Aug 2014

Zhichan decoction promotes dopaminergic neurons following NSC transplantation in PD rats

There is an increasing interest in Parkinson's disease (PD) treatment by increasing dopamine content and reducing dopaminergic metabolites in the brain.

17 Jul 2014

Imaging biomarker proposed for Parkinson’s disease

Reduced off-medication connectivity in the basal ganglia network separates patients with early Parkinson’s disease from healthy controls with high accuracy, preliminary findings suggest.

15 Jul 2014

Sleep problems in PD patients can worsen in later stages of disease

Up to 70% of Parkinson's disease (PD) patients experience sleep problems that negatively impact their quality of life.

11 Jul 2014

Low accuracy of clinical diagnosis for early Parkinson’s disease

About three-quarters of patients suspected to have early Parkinson’s disease eventually prove to have other conditions, a study shows.

3 Jul 2014

Dopamine transporter availability predicts ICDs

Reduced striatal dopamine transporter availability is already present in patients with Parkinson’s disease who go on to develop impulse control disorders, a study shows.

5 Jun 2014

Neuroscientists explain how miswiring in brain area can potentially contribute to ADHD

Neuroscientists at Mayo Clinic in Florida and at Aarhus University in Denmark have shed light on why neurons in the brain's reward system can be miswired, potentially contributing to disorders such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

5 Jun 2014

Duke researchers identify first piece of new brain-repair circuit

Duke researchers have found a new type of neuron in the adult brain that is capable of telling stem cells to make more new neurons. Though the experiments are in their early stages, the finding opens the tantalizing possibility that the brain may be able to repair itself from within.

3 Jun 2014

Presynaptic dopaminergic lesion predicts drug-induced dyskinesia

Research suggests that the extent of presynaptic dopaminergic denervation before starting therapy may predict which patients with Parkinson’s disease will later develop levodopa-induced dyskinesia.

19 May 2014

Scan may rule out Parkinson’s disease

Patients with clinical symptoms of early Parkinson’s disease but no evidence of dopaminergic deficit on brain imaging are unlikely to have the condition, say the PRECEPT Study investigators.

19 May 2014

‘Lessebo’ effect implications for Parkinson’s therapies

Patients with Parkinson’s disease have a reduced objective response to treatment given in a clinical trial if they know they may be taking a placebo, research shows.

14 May 2014

Research: Stimulation of certain population of neurons within brain can alter learning process

Stimulation of a certain population of neurons within the brain can alter the learning process, according to a team of neuroscientists and neurosurgeons at the University of Pennsylvania.

14 May 2014

Retinal measurements associated with Parkinson’s disease duration

The inner retinal layers in the eyes of patients with Parkinson’s disease are thinner than those of healthy people’s eyes, except for the inner nuclear layer, which is thicker, show the results of a prospective study involving the latest optical coherence tomography methods.

1 May 2014

Dopamine replacement therapy linked with decline in depressed Parkinson patients' cognitive function

A group of scientists from the University of Kentucky College of Medicine and the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging has found interesting new information in a study on depression and neuropsychological function in Parkinson's disease (PD).

19 Apr 2014

New discovery opens door to development of new treatments that stop progression of Parkinson's disease

A research led by the Research Institute Vall d'Hebron (VHIR), in which the University of Valencia participated, has shown that pathological forms of the α-synuclein protein present in deceased patients with Parkinson's disease are able to initiate and spread in mice and primates the neurodegenerative process that typifies this disease.

10 Apr 2014

Professor receives $1.7M NIH grant to explore novel treatments for chronic methamphetamine users

A Wayne State University professor recently received a nearly $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health to explore whether proteasome and parkin — two components of the ubiquitin-proteasome system — are potential pharmaceutical drug targets that can be manipulated to promote survival and recovery of dopaminergic terminals after binge and chronic administration of toxic doses of methamphetamine.

8 Apr 2014

Researchers examine role of alpha-synuclein in neuronal cells

Alpha-synuclein is a principal component of Lewy bodies and Lewy neurites, which are pathologic hall-marks of Parkinson's disease. Alpha-synuclein is generally considered to play a role in synaptic activity, although its function remains largely unknown.

13 Mar 2014