Parkinson's News

October 25, 2025

Top Headlines

Scientists Finally See What Sparks Parkinson’s

Oct. 24, 2025 — Researchers have finally seen and measured the tiny alpha-synuclein oligomers that may ignite Parkinson’s disease. With the ultra-sensitive ASA-PD imaging method, they captured these clusters in brain tissue, finding larger and more numerous ...

Supercharged Vitamin K Could Help the Brain Heal Itself

Oct. 14, 2025 — Researchers have synthesized enhanced vitamin K analogues that outperform natural vitamin K in promoting neuron growth. The new compounds, which combine vitamin K with retinoic acid, activate the mGluR1 receptor to drive neurogenesis. They also ...

Scientists Just Found a Molecule That Could Stop Parkinson’s in Its Tracks

Oct. 8, 2025 — Researchers have designed a peptide that prevents the deadly misfolding of alpha-synuclein, the protein behind Parkinson’s and some dementias. In lab and animal tests, it stabilized the protein and ...

Why the Brain’s GPS Fails with Age, and How Some Minds Defy It

Oct. 5, 2025 — Stanford scientists found that aging disrupts the brain’s internal navigation system in mice, mirroring spatial memory decline in humans. Older mice struggled to recall familiar locations, while a few “super-agers” retained youthful brain ...

The Invisible Chemical in the Air That Could Be Raising Parkinson’s Risk

Oct. 3, 2025 — A massive nationwide study has linked long-term exposure to the industrial chemical trichloroethylene (TCE) with a higher risk of Parkinson’s disease in older adults. Researchers examined over 1.1 million people, finding that those living in areas ...

Brain Fat, Not Just Plaques, May Be the Hidden Driver of Alzheimer’s

Sep. 24, 2025 — For decades, scientists believed Alzheimer’s was driven mainly by sticky protein plaques and tangles in the brain. Now Purdue researchers have revealed a hidden culprit: fat. They found that brain immune cells can become clogged with fat, leaving ...

Dementia-like Clumps Found in Cells Before Cancer Strikes

Sep. 22, 2025 — Researchers found that pancreatic pre-cancer cells mimic dementia by forming clumps of proteins due to faulty recycling processes. These insights could shed light on why pancreatic cancer develops so aggressively and why it is difficult to treat. By ...

Scientists Watch Parkinson’s Protein Drill Holes in Brain Cells

Sep. 4, 2025 — Scientists have uncovered a surprising way Parkinson’s disease may start: tiny toxic proteins that punch holes in brain cells like revolving doors. Instead of causing instant collapse, these flickering pores slowly weaken the cells, which could ...

Overworked Neurons Burn Out and Fuel Parkinson’s Disease

Sep. 3, 2025 — Overactivation of dopamine neurons may directly drive their death, explaining why movement-controlling brain cells degenerate in Parkinson’s. Mice with chronically stimulated neurons showed the same selective damage seen in patients, along with ...

Lithium Deficiency May Be the Hidden Spark Behind Alzheimer’s

Aug. 29, 2025 — Harvard scientists have uncovered that lithium, a naturally occurring element in the brain, may be the missing piece in understanding Alzheimer’s. Their decade-long research shows that lithium depletion—caused by amyloid plaques binding to ...

Scientists Reversed Memory Loss by Powering the Brain’s Tiny Engines

Aug. 12, 2025 — Scientists have discovered a direct cause-and-effect link between faulty mitochondria and the memory loss seen in neurodegenerative diseases. By creating a novel tool to boost mitochondrial activity in mouse models, researchers restored memory ...

One Shot, Seven Days: Long-acting Levodopa Gel Tackles Parkinson’s Tremors

July 14, 2025 — Researchers in Australia have created a biodegradable gel that delivers Parkinson’s medications through a single weekly shot, replacing the need for multiple daily pills. Injected just under the ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:15pm EDT

Scientists Reverse Parkinson’s Symptoms in Mice — Could Humans Be Next?

July 5, 2025 — Scientists at the University of Sydney have uncovered a malfunctioning version of the SOD1 protein that clumps inside brain cells and fuels Parkinson’s disease. In mouse models, restoring the ...

Parkinson’s Reversal? One Drug Brings Dying Brain Cells Back to Life

July 3, 2025 — Stanford researchers discovered that dialing down an overactive enzyme, LRRK2, can regrow lost cellular “antennae” in key brain cells, restoring vital dopamine communication and neuroprotective ...

Scientists Just Found a Sugar Switch That Protects Your Brain from Alzheimer's

June 30, 2025 — Scientists have uncovered a surprising sugar-related mechanism inside brain cells that could transform how we fight Alzheimer’s and other ...

Brain Scan Breakthrough Reveals Why Parkinson’s Drugs Don’t Always Work

June 29, 2025 — Researchers are using an advanced brain imaging method called MEG to understand why Parkinson’s drug levodopa doesn’t work equally well for everyone. By mapping patients’ brain signals before ...

Zika Virus Uses Cells' 'Self-Care' System to Turn Against Host

May 27, 2025 — A new study reveals the biological secret to the Zika virus's infectious success: Zika uses host cells' own 'self-care' system of clearing away useless molecules to suppress the host proteins that ...

Potential New Treatment for Alzheimer's Disease, Other Neurodegenerative Conditions

May 26, 2025 — Worldwide, more than 55 million people suffer from dementia caused by Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and other conditions that destroy cells in the brain ...

Study Reveals Impacts of Alzheimer's Disease on the Whole Body

May 17, 2025 — While Alzheimer's disease is mostly considered a disorder of the brain, emerging evidence suggests that the condition also affects other organs of the body. Working with the laboratory fruit fly, ...

Impact of Oft-Overlooked Cell in Brain Function Revealed

May 15, 2025 — An often-ignored type of cell in the brain plays a dynamic and surprisingly complex role in our ability to process information, according to new ...

'Sweet Spot' for Focused Ultrasound to Provide Essential Tremor Relief

May 14, 2025 — For millions of people around the world with essential tremor, everyday activities from eating and drinking to dressing and doing basic tasks can become impossible. This common neurological movement ...

Scientists Discover New Way the Brain Learns

May 14, 2025 — Neuroscientists have discovered that the brain uses a dual system for learning through trial and error. This is the first time a second learning system has been identified, which could help explain ...

Hormone Cycles Shape the Structure and Function of Key Memory Regions in the Brain

May 13, 2025 — Hormone levels fluctuate like the tides, ebbing and flowing according to carefully orchestrated cycles. These hormones not only influence the body, but can cross into the brain and shape the behavior ...

Eating Ultra Processed Foods May Speed Up Early Signs of Parkinson's Disease

May 7, 2025 — People who eat more ultra processed foods like cold breakfast cereal, cookies and hot dogs are more likely to have early signs of Parkinson's disease when compared to those who eat very few ...

Discovery of Dopamine Receptors in a Previously Overlooked Part of the Brain Sheds Light on the Complex Circuitry for Anxiety and Depression

May 7, 2025 — Researchers have discovered distinct roles for two dopamine receptors located on nerve cells within the portion of the brain that controls approach vs. avoidance ...

Study Finds One Protein That Mitigates Huntington's Disease, and One That Exacerbates It

May 5, 2025 — Researchers found that inhibiting GSK-3 led to less defects in the axonal transport process and less neuronal cell death, while inhibiting ERK1 led to more transport problems and more cell ...

Molecular Double Agent: Protein 'Eato' Plays Surprising Role in Protecting the Brain

May 1, 2025 — A team of researchers has made a discovery in fruit flies that could change the way we understand brain diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's in humans. The scientists found that Eato ...

Neuroestrogen: The Brain's Secret Weapon Against Hunger

May 1, 2025 — Estrogens are known for their role in reproduction, but a new study reveals that neuroestrogens -- estrogens produced in the brain -- play a key role in appetite regulation. These brain-made hormones ...

Dopamine Signals When a Fear Can Be Forgotten

Apr. 28, 2025 — A new study shows how a dopamine circuit between two brain regions enables mice to extinguish fear after a peril has ...

How Dopamine Helps Us Learn to Avoid Bad Outcomes

Apr. 22, 2025 — Dopamine is the brain's motivational spark, driving us to chase what feels good, say scrolling another reel on social media, and steer clear of what doesn't, like touching a hot stove. But ...

Engineered Microglia Show Promise for Treating Alzheimer's and Other Brain Diseases

Apr. 21, 2025 — A new way to deliver disease-fighting proteins throughout the brain may improve the treatment of Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders, according to scientists. By engineering ...

Integrative Approach Reveals Promising Candidates for Alzheimer's Disease Risk Factors or Targets for Therapeutic Intervention

Apr. 18, 2025 — A new study provides solutions to the pressing need to identify factors that influence Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk or resistance while providing an avenue to explore potential biological ...

How Disturbed Signaling Pathways Could Promote Epileptic Seizures

Apr. 16, 2025 — Focal cortical dysplasia (FCD) type 2 is a congenital malformation of the cerebral cortex that is often associated with difficult-to-treat epilepsy. In the affected areas, nerve cells and their layer ...

Hereditary Alzheimer's: Blood Marker for Defective Neuronal Connections Rises Early

Apr. 16, 2025 — Individuals with a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's disease show altered blood levels indicating damaged neuronal contacts as early as 11 years before the expected onset of dementia ...

AI Tool to Better Assess Parkinson's Disease, Other Movement Disorders

Apr. 14, 2025 — A groundbreaking open-source computer program uses artificial intelligence to analyze videos of patients with Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders. The tool, called VisionMD, helps ...

Scientists Identify Key Enzyme in Alzheimer's Disease That Links Brain Inflammation to Memory Loss

Apr. 14, 2025 — A research team has identified a previously unknown enzyme, SIRT2, that plays a key role in memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The study provides critical insights into how ...

Brain Pathway Links Inflammation to Loss of Motivation, Energy in Advanced Cancer

Apr. 10, 2025 — Researchers identified a direct connection between cancer-related inflammation and the loss of motivation characteristic of advanced cancer. In a mouse study, they describe a brain pathway that ...

How Mothers Adapt to the Metabolic Demands of Nursing

Apr. 10, 2025 — Nursing poses major metabolic demands on mothers, to which they respond by eating more and saving energy to sustain milk production. There are significant hormonal changes during lactation, but how ...

What Links Cannabis Use and Psychosis? Researchers Point to Brain's Dopamine System

Apr. 9, 2025 — A new study found that people with cannabis use disorder (CUD) had elevated dopamine levels in a brain region associated with ...

PET Imaging Confirms Direct Involvement of Dopamine in Cognitive Flexibility

Mar. 28, 2025 — Scientists have confirmed a neurobiochemical link between dopamine and cognitive flexibility. PET imaging shows that the brain increases dopamine production when completing cognitively demanding ...

Scientists Discover Why Obesity Takes Away the Pleasure of Eating

Mar. 26, 2025 — Why do some people lose the joy of eating, even when surrounded by irresistible foods? UC Berkeley researchers have uncovered a surprising brain mechanism that explains this paradox. They found that ...

ADHD May Be Associated With an Increased Risk of Dementia

Mar. 25, 2025 — An adult brain affected by attention deficit disorder with or without hyperactivity (ADHD) presents modifications similar to those observed in individuals suffering from dementia. These are the ...