Category: Parkinson’s Disease

Why Parkinson’s Disease Has Robbed Linda Ronstadt Of Her Singing Voice

Singer Linda Rondstadt has recently been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.

Singer Linda Rondstadt has recently been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.

The news that Linda Ronstadt has lost her powerful voice after a four-decade singing career as a result of Parkinson’s disease shocked not just the singer, but her many fans.

The 67-year-old Grammy-winning singer revealed last week that she struggled with symptoms of the disease for nearly eight years before getting her diagnosis just months ago. The neurological degenerative condition robs sufferers of their speech, mobility and their cognitive abilities.

During my career, I have spent almost 30 years investigating the effects of Parkinson’s disease on the brain and  I have seen great strides in our understanding and treatment of this illness.

What is Parkinson’s disease?

Over 4 million people worldwide suffer from Parkinson’s disease – a so-called hypokinetic disorder (hypo = lack of; kinetic = movement). Parkinson’s disease can be genetic but it can also be triggered by brain injury – as observed in boxers such as Muhammad Ali – and by environment – e.g. prolonged exposure to chemicals such as insecticides, weed killers and some drugs.  However in most cases Parkinson’s disease arises ‘out of the blue’ – i.e. idiopathic Parkinson’s disease. It is a progressive disease – the symptoms start out small and get progressively worse but it is rarely fatal.

Three major symptoms

The disease is associated with three major symptoms (i) akinesia – an inability to start a movement – for instance when starting to brush your teeth, (ii) bradykinesia – an excessive braking or slowing of movement – when the brush strokes become shorter and eventually freeze and (iii) tremor – starting out as a trembling finger movements as if rolling a coin or pill – sometimes called ‘pill-rolling’ – which can progress to the whole body. With Parkinson’s disease one minute you are working away in the garden and the next you are literally stuck to the spot – totally unable to move. In these situations daily life can become a challenge that can be difficult to endure.

History

The disease is named after a British surgeon and political activist James Parkinson (1755-1824) who was born in London’s east end. In October 1794 he was questioned under oath before a council of state in connection with a plot to kill the King. He was exonerated but remained a strong advocate for the under-privileged. In 1817 he published An Essay on the Shaking Palsy reporting 6 cases. Although his publication was later considered the seminal work on the disease, it received little attention until a lot more cases came to light.

Where in the brain does Parkinson’s disease occur?

The Nobel Prize was awarded in 2000 to Professor Arvid Carlsson for his research over the past 50 years which confirmed that the ‘core defect’ in Parkinson’s disease is a loss of a chemical called dopamine in two tiny brain regions  – no bigger than a wart – called the substantia nigra. These two regions deep in the back of the brain – one on the left side and one on the right side – contain nerves that make a lot of dopamine and release it at their tips about 4 inches forward in the basal ganglia – located deep in the center of the brain where it helps to convert the intention/motivation needed to perform a movement into actual movement.

The core defect is a loss of dopamine

Dopamine belongs to a family of neurotransmitters called amines that help nerve cells to stay in touch with each other- sometimes called neurotransmitters. Dopamine acts like hydraulic oil which lubricates the basal ganglia nerve network involved in executing a movement. One only needed to go to watch Linda perform on stage at the height of her career to see dopamine in action as her brain effortlessly converted her thoughts and moods into the mesmerizing tonality, rhythm and range that made her so loved by a generation. In Parkinson’s disease the substantia nigra progressively dies, the supply of dopamine to the basal ganglia dries-up and like a car out of oil the engine seizes-up and movement grinds to a halt.

Trapped and disconnected

We need dopamine to survive. Dopamine allows us to talk, sing, socialize, improvise and take risks. When dopamine flows we don’t see things as being limited by circumstance. We have boundless energy and literally anything is possible!  Without dopamine we feel trapped and disconnected. It is not surprising therefore that mood can become low and depression is often associated with this illness.

Medication is expensive

Over the past 40 years neuroscientists been working hard to develop drugs that can safely raise dopamine levels in the Parkinsonian brain – the so-called antiparkinsonian drugs – and better, more effective treatments come on the market every decade.  Drug treatments are effective in managing symptoms but frequent changes are needed as the disease progresses. In the end many combinations of drugs at higher and higher doses may be needed and unpleasant side-effects may become an issue. Medication costs on average €100,000 per year.  Interestingly, the inexpensive anti-inflammatory drug ibuprofen has recently been shown to help stave off Parkinson’s disease possibly by protecting the substantia nigra but ibuprofen can itself produce unwanted side effects, including stomach bleeding.

Alternatives to drug-treatment?

deep brain stimulation

Neuroscientists believe that the loss of the dopamine-rich nerves in the substantia nigra results is an over-activity of a ‘brake’ mechanism in the basal ganglia which in turn inappropriately shuts down movement.  Deep brain stimulation (DBS) takes advantage of our knowledge of this brain wiring by applying a small electric current into a target area called the subthalamic nucleus located deep within the basal ganglia to switch off the brake and free-up movement. It is an expensive and risky procedure but it can provide a new lease of life particularly to those patients for whom conventional drug treatment no longer seem to work.

The politics of brain research

Probably the most important lesson to be taken from Linda’s illness is that we need to open up a debate on how we as a society fund research into brain illness and highlight the realization that a deeper understanding of the brain IS the difference between a good and a bad quality of life for the sufferers of brain illnesses such as Parkinson’s disease.

I hope that Linda and her loved ones will take hope from the on-going research into Parkinson’s disease by teams of dedicated scientists worldwide.

Click on the link below to hear Professor Billy O’Connor talk about Parkinson’s disease on Mind Matters – a science programme on RTE radio.

http://www.podcastdirectory.com/episodes/mind-matters-on-parkinson-s-disease-3465171.html

Weekly Neuroscience Update

How Would It Be to Have the Body of a Child Again? Changes in Perception and Behaviors Demonstrated When Embodying a Child Avatar

A research, recently published on the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that a correlate of a body-ownership illusion is that the virtual type of body carries with it a set of temporary changes in perception and behaviours that are appropriate to that type of body.

A new study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, examined whether or not higher glucose levels without diabetes was a risk factor for dementia.  Diabetes is already a known risk factor for dementia, but this study aimed to determine if the risk factor for diabetes is a risk factor for dementia.  Studying 2,067 participants without dementia, 232 of which already had diabetes, the researchers collected follow-up data after approximately seven years.  They found a significantly higher risk of dementia in individuals with higher than average blood glucose even if they did not have diabetes. Meanwhile, a study by researchers at Umeå University in Sweden suggests nine different factors that can increase the risk of developing dementia before age 65. The results have been published by the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

Meditating before lectures can lead to better grades according to a new experimental study by George Mason University professor Robert Youmans and University of Illinois doctoral student Jared Ramsburg.

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have uncovered a protein switch that can either increase or decrease memory-building activity in brain cells, depending on the signals it detects. Its dual role means the protein is key to understanding the complex network of signals that shapes our brain’s circuitry, the researchers say.

Different parts of the brain are affected in women with autism than in men with autism, according to a new study.

Ending a 30-year search by scientists, researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital have identified two proteins in the inner ear that are critical for hearing, which, when damaged by genetic mutations, cause a form of delayed, progressive hearing loss.

Researchers have found human brains ‘divide and conquer’ when people learn to navigate around new environments. The research by UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) could provide hope for people with spatial memory impairments.

Researchers have discovered how genetic mutations linked to Parkinson’s disease might play a key role in the death of brain cells, potentially paving the way for the development of more effective drug treatments.

The largest genome-wide study of its kind has determined how much five major mental illnesses are traceable to the same common inherited genetic variations. Researchers funded in part by the National Institutes of Health found that the overlap was highest between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder; moderate for bipolar disorder and depression and for ADHD and depression; and low between schizophrenia and autism. Overall, common genetic variation accounted for 17-28 percent of risk for the illnesses.

Weekly Neuroscience Update

sad music

Sad music might actually evoke positive emotions reveals a new study by Japanese researchers. The findings help to explain why people enjoy listening to sad music, say Ai Kawakami and colleagues from Tokyo University of the Arts and the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan.

Extroverts may be more outgoing and cheerful in part because of their brain chemistry, reports a study by Cornell neuroscientists.

Researchers at Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA) have discovered that the region of the brain called the orbitofrontal cortex plays a key role in linking emotion and memories. The finding comes from a new study, which demonstrates that patients with frontotemporal dementia (FTD) lose the “emotional content” of their memories.

Researchers in Oxford have demonstrated a significant improvement in the treatment of advanced Parkinson’s disease with deep brain stimulation.

In a study examining how bilingual children learn the two different sound systems of languages they are acquiring simultaneously, researchers have discovered insights that indicate children can learn two native languages as easily as they can learn one.

Scientists have developed a method with which the chances of success of a surgical procedure for temporal lobe epilepsy can be accurately predicted.

Patient Plays Guitar During Brain Surgery To Treat Parkinson’s

Brad Carter Plays Guitar During Brain Surgery To Treat Parkinson’s

To mark Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center’s 500th deep brain stimulation operation last Thursday, surgeons performed the world’s first live-Vined brain surgery.

The operation, which lead neurologist Dr. Nader Pouratian described as “textbook” brain pacemaker implant surgery, was documented with Vine, a six-second video medium, and with Instagram photos on the hospital’s Twitter account in real time on patient Brad Carter, an actor diagnosed with the progressive neurological disorder essential tremor in 2006.

“Not everyone gets to experience a surgery, and more specifically an awake brain surgery,” Pouratian said in a phone interview with The Huffington Post. “I thought it was a great opportunity to share with the world.”

Deep brain stimulation is a therapy for people with Parkinson’s disease, that  involves inserting a pacemaker that emits electronic impulses to affected areas of the brain, lessening tremor symptoms. At UCLA, the patient is conscious during the surgery and is asked to perform tests so that doctors can ensure the pacemaker is properly placed.

Carter’s disease made his hands shake and his eyes twitch, affecting his ability to play the guitar. He had asked that he be allowed to strum his guitar during the operation to see if the pacemaker improved his playing ability.
Vine videos from the surgery show Carter’s guitar skills get stronger as physicians located the best place to leave the pacemaker.

Weekly Neuroscience Update

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A research team at Northwestern University are studying the connection between memory and sleep, and the possibilities of boosting memory storage while you snooze.

For the first time, scientists have used a new combination of neural imaging methods to discover how the human brain adapts to injury. The research, published in Cerebral Cortex, shows that when one brain area loses functionality, a “back-up” team of secondary brain areas immediately activates, replacing not only the unavailable area but also its confederates.

New research suggests that testing a portion of a person’s saliva gland may be a way to diagnose Parkinson’s disease. The study was released today and will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 65th Annual Meeting in San Diego, March 16 to 23, 2013.

In a promising finding for epileptic patients suffering from persistent seizures known as status epilepticus, researchers have reported that new medication could help halt these devastating seizures.

Tübingen neuroscientists have shown how decision-making processes are influenced by neurons.

EPFL scientists find evidence that psychological wounds inflicted when young leave lasting biological traces—and a predisposition toward violence later in life

The production of new neurons, known as neurogenesis, was found to be induced in the adult normal cortex by the antidepressant fluoxetine, as reported in a study published online last week in Neuropsychopharmacology. This finding highlights the potential neuroprotective response induced by this antidepressant drug. It also lends further support to the thesis that induction of adult neurogenesis in cortex is a relevant prevention/treatment option for neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric disorders.

photo credit: Toni Blay via photopin cc

Weekly Neuroscience Update

Mind wandering may increase creative thinking, according to a new international study.

Simple mental activity such as reading, writing, playing games and doing puzzles may protect brain health in old age, according to a new study.

Reduced production of myelin, a type of protective nerve fiber that is lost in diseases like multiple sclerosis, may also play a role in the development of mental illness, according to researchers at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

A small molecule known to regulate white blood cells has a surprising second role in protecting brain cells from the deleterious effects of stroke, Johns Hopkins researchers report.

Scientists have revealed the minutely detailed pain map of the hand that is contained within our brains, shedding light on how the brain makes us feel discomfort and potentially increasing our understanding of the processes involved in chronic pain.

People with Parkinson’s disease benefit from exercise programs on stationary bicycles, with the greatest effect for those who pedal faster, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

A new method to study widespread networks of neurons responsible for our memory has been discovered by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics.

The first study to estimate rates of traumatic brain injury (TBI), without relying on official figures, suggests the worldwide incidence of TBI could be six times higher than previously estimated.

MRI shows changes in the brains of people with post-concussion syndrome (PCS), according to a new study published online in the journal Radiology. Researchers hope the results point the way to improved detection and treatment for the disorder.

photo credit: pamlau.com via photopin cc

Weekly Neuroscience Update

Image: Pixmac.com

Gym-style exercise may improve not only general health in middle age, but also brain function, according to new research.

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University have discovered that blocking a certain enzyme in the brain can help repair the brain damage associated with multiple sclerosis and a range of other neurological disorders.

Researchers at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR) have found a small population of neurons that is involved in measuring time.

Two proteins have a unique bond that enables brain receptors essential to learning and memory to not only get and stay where they’re needed, but to be hauled off when they aren’t, researchers say.

Scientists have discovered that the brain circuits we engage when we think about social matters, such as considering other people’s views, or moral issues, inhibit the circuits that we use when we think about inanimate, analytical
things, such as working on a physics problem or making sure the numbers add up when we balance our budget. And they say, the same happens the other way around: the analytic brain network inhibits the social network.

Lund University researchers plan to use optogenetics to stimulate neurons to release more dopamine to combat Parkinson’s disease.

A new finding could lead to strategies for treating speech loss after a stroke and helping children with dyslexia. New research links motor skills and perception, specifically as it relates to a second finding – a new understanding of what the left and right brain hemispheres “hear.”

UCLA researchers have for the first time measured the activity of a brain region known to be involved in learning, memory and Alzheimer’s disease during sleep. They discovered that this region, called the entorhinal cortex, behaves as if it’s remembering something, even during anesthesia–induced sleep — a finding that counters conventional theories about sleep-time memory consolidation.