A scientist at the Gladstone Institutes has identified how the lack of a brain chemical known as dopamine can rewire the interaction between two groups of brain cells and lead to symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.
In a paper being published online Sept. 8 in Neuron, Gladstone investigator Anatol Kreitzer identifies how the loss of dopamine alters the wiring of a small group of brain cells, kicking off a chain of events that eventually leads to difficulties controlling movement — a hallmark of Parkinson’s disease. More than a half-million people suffer from Parkinson’s in the United States, including the boxer Muhammad Ali and the actor Michael J. Fox.
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