Spanish scientists challenge origins of Parkinson's
Monday, September 24, 2018 @ 2:49 PM
SCIENTISTS at a Madrid neurobiology laboratory have made a ground-breaking discovery as to the origins of Parkinson's disease, throwing into conjecture previous assumptions about where the condition starts.
The HM CINAC, or Integral Centre for Neurosciences, says the disease may not, in fact, 'spread' to the cerebral cortex as its 'final destination', as has hitherto been believed: it could be that this is where it starts.
This would explain why Parkinson's starts off with motor issues, or problems affecting general movement, speech and the body's outward physical activity.
A neurodegenerative condition characterised by rigidity, slowness and trembling – although the latter may not always be present, especially in young victims – has largely been explained by the death of 'black mater' neurons, or nerve sources in the part of the brain that generates dopamine, a brain chemical associated with the feeling of being 'switched on' and 'positive' and an over-firing of which is thought to be behind delusional disorders such as psychosis and schizophrenia, as well as attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
The loss of neurons in the dopamine or 'active' and 'feel-good' part of the brain has never yet been explained, but the HM CINAC scientists believe it is not a localised phenomenon: instead, it is a 'stage on a more complex pathological journey which literally progresses in a bottom-up direction'.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com