scholarly journals Dopamine replacement remediates risk aversion in Parkinson’s disease in a value-independent manner

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariya V. Cherkasova ◽  
Jeffrey C. Corrow ◽  
Alisdair Taylor ◽  
Shanna C. Yeung ◽  
Jacob L. Stubbs ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTIntroductionClinical evidence suggests that Parkinson’s Disease (PD) patients are risk averse. Dopaminergic therapy has been reported to increase risk tolerance, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Some studies have suggested an amplification of subjective reward value, consistent with the role of dopamine in reward value coding. Others have reported value-independent risk enhancement. We evaluated the value-dependence of the effects of PD and its therapy on risk using tasks designed to sensitively measure risk over a wide range of expected values.Method36 patients with idiopathic PD receiving levodopa monotherapy and 36 healthy matched controls performed two behavioural economic tasks aimed at quantifying 1) risk tolerance/ aversion in the gain frame and 2) valuation of potential gains relative to losses. PD patients performed the tasks on and off their usual dose of levodopa in randomized order; controls performed the same tasks twice.ResultsRelative to the controls, unmedicated PD patients showed significant value-independent risk aversion in the gain frame, which was normalized by levodopa. PD patients did not differ from controls in their valuation of gains relative to losses. However, across both tasks and regardless of medication, choices of the patients were more determined by expected values of the prospects than those of controls.ConclusionDopamine deficiency in PD was associated with risk aversion, and levodopa promoted riskier choice in a value-independent manner. PD patients also showed an increased sensitivity to expected value, which was independent of levodopa and does not appear to result directly from dopamine deficiency.

2019 ◽  
Vol 66 ◽  
pp. 189-194
Author(s):  
Mariya V. Cherkasova ◽  
Jeffrey C. Corrow ◽  
Alisdair Taylor ◽  
Shanna C. Yeung ◽  
Jacob L. Stubbs ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Bernardinis ◽  
S. Farokh Atashzar ◽  
Rajni V. Patel ◽  
Mandar S. Jog

In this work, we investigate the effect of Parkinson’s disease (PD), and common corresponding therapies on vision-based perception of motion, a critical perceptual ability required for performing a wide range of activities of daily livings. While PD has been recognized as mainly a motor disorder, sensory manifestation of PD can also play a major role in the resulting disability. In this paper, for the first time, the effect of disease duration and common therapies on vision-based perception of displacement were investigated. The study is conducted in a movement-independent manner, to reject the shadowing effects and isolate the targeted perceptual disorder to the maximum possible extent. Data was collected using a computerized graphical tool on 37 PD patients [6 early-stage de novo, 25 mid-stage using levodopa therapy, six later-stage using deep brain stimulation (DBS)] and 15 control participants. Besides the absolute measurement of perception through a psychometric analysis on two tested position reference magnitudes, we also investigated the linearity in perception using Weber’s fraction. The results showed that individuals with PD displayed significant perceptual impairments compared to controls, though early-stage patients were not impaired. Mid-stage patients displayed impairments at the greater of the two tested reference magnitudes, while late-stage patients were impaired at both reference magnitudes. Levodopa and DBS use did not cause statistically significant differences in absolute displacement perception. The findings suggest abnormal visual processing in PD increasing with disease development, perhaps contributing to sensory-based impairments of PD such as bradykinesia, visuospatial deficits, and abnormal object recognition.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Lisa Damron ◽  
Irene Litvan ◽  
Ece Bayram ◽  
Sarah Berk ◽  
Bernadette Siddiqi ◽  
...  

Background: Hispanics are under-represented in Parkinson’s disease (PD) research despite the importance of diversity for results to apply to a wide range of patients. Objective: To investigate the perspective of Hispanic persons with Parkinson disease (PWP) regarding awareness, interest, and barriers to participation in research. Methods: We developed and administered a survey and qualitative interview in English and Spanish. For the survey, 62 Hispanic and 38 non-Hispanic PWP linked to a tertiary center were recruited in Arizona. For interviews, 20 Hispanic PWP, 20 caregivers, and six physicians providing service to Hispanic PWP in the community were recruited in California. Survey responses of Hispanic and non-Hispanic PWP were compared. Major survey themes were identified by applying grounded theory and open coding. Results: The survey found roughly half (Q1 54%, Q2 55%) of Hispanic PWP linked to a tertiary center knew about research; there was unawareness among community Hispanic PWP. Most preferred having physician recommendations for research participation and were willing to participate. Hispanics preferred teams who speak their native language and include family. Research engagement, PD knowledge, role of family, living with PD, PD care, pre-diagnosis/diagnosis emerged as themes from the interview. Conclusion: Barriers exist for participation of Hispanic PWP in research, primarily lack of awareness of PD research opportunities. Educating physicians of the need to encourage research participation of Hispanic PWP can address this. Physicians need to be aware of ongoing research and should not assume PWP disinterest. Including family members and providing research opportunities in their native language can increase research recruitment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshiki Takamatsu ◽  
Masayo Fujita ◽  
Gilbert J. Ho ◽  
Ryoko Wada ◽  
Shuei Sugama ◽  
...  

Lewy body diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease (PD), dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), and multiple system atrophy (MSA), are associated with a wide range of nonmotor symptoms (NMS), including cognitive impairment, depression and anxiety, sleep disorders, gastrointestinal symptoms, and autonomic failure. The reason why such diverse and disabling NMS have not been weeded out but have persisted across evolution is unknown. As such, one possibility would be that the NMS might be somehow beneficial during development and/or reproductive stages, a possibility consistent with our recent view as to the evolvability of amyloidogenic proteins (APs) such as α-synuclein (αS) and amyloid-β (Aβ) in the brain. Based on the heterogeneity of protofibrillar AP forms in terms of structure and cytotoxicity, we recently proposed that APs might act as vehicles to deliver information regarding diverse internal and environmental stressors. Also, we defined evolvability to be an epigenetic phenomenon whereby APs are transgenerationally transmitted from parents to offspring to cope with future brain stressors in the offspring, likely benefitting the offspring. In this context, the main objective is to discuss whether NMS might be relevant to evolvability. According to this view, information regarding NMS may be transgenerationally transmitted by heterogeneous APs to offspring, preventing or attenuating the stresses related to such symptoms. On the other hand, NMS associated with Lewy body pathology might manifest through an aging-associated antagonistic pleiotropy mechanism. Given that NMS are not only specific to Lewy body diseases but also displayed in other disorders, including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and Huntington’s disease (HD), these conditions might share common mechanisms related to evolvability. This might give insight into novel therapy strategies based on antagonistic pleiotropy rather than on individual NMS from which to develop disease-modifying therapies.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohsin H.K. Roshan ◽  
Amos Tambo ◽  
Nikolai P. Pace

Parkinson’s disease [PD] is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer’s disease, affecting 1% of the population over the age of 55. The underlying neuropathology seen in PD is characterised by progressive loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta with the presence of Lewy bodies. The Lewy bodies are composed of aggregates of α-synuclein. The motor manifestations of PD include a resting tremor, bradykinesia, and muscle rigidity. Currently there is no cure for PD and motor symptoms are treated with a number of drugs including levodopa [L-dopa]. These drugs do not delay progression of the disease and often provide only temporary relief. Their use is often accompanied by severe adverse effects. Emerging evidence from bothin vivoandin vitrostudies suggests that caffeine may reduce parkinsonian motor symptoms by antagonising the adenosine A2Areceptor, which is predominately expressed in the basal ganglia. It is hypothesised that caffeine may increase the excitatory activity in local areas by inhibiting the astrocytic inflammatory processes but evidence remains inconclusive. In addition, the co-administration of caffeine with currently available PD drugs helps to reduce drug tolerance, suggesting that caffeine may be used as an adjuvant in treating PD. In conclusion, caffeine may have a wide range of therapeutic effects which are yet to be explored, and therefore warrants further investigation in randomized clinical trials.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Álvaro Inglés-Prieto ◽  
Nikolas Furthmann ◽  
Samuel Crossman ◽  
Nina Hoyer ◽  
Meike Petersen ◽  
...  

AbstractOptogenetics has been harnessed to shed new mechanistic light on current therapies and to develop future treatment strategies. This has been to date achieved by the correction of electrical signals in neuronal cells and neural circuits that are affected by disease. In contrast, the optogenetic delivery of trophic biochemical signals, which support cell survival and thereby may modify progression of degenerative disorders, has never been demonstrated in an animal disease model. Here, we reengineered the human and Drosophila melanogaster REarranged during Transfection (hRET and dRET) receptors to be activated by light, creating one-component optogenetic tools termed Opto-hRET and Opto-dRET. Upon blue light stimulation, these receptors robustly induced the MAPK/ERK proliferative signaling pathway in cultured cells. In PINK1B9 flies that exhibit loss of PTEN-induced putative kinase 1 (PINK1), a kinase associated with familial Parkinson’s disease (PD), light activation of Opto-dRET suppressed mitochondrial defects, tissue degeneration and behavioral deficits. In human cells with PINK1 loss-of-function, mitochondrial fragmentation was rescued using Opto-dRET via the PI3K/NF-кB pathway. Our results demonstrate that a light-activated receptor can ameliorate disease hallmarks in a genetic model of PD. The optogenetic delivery of trophic signals is cell type-specific and reversible and thus has the potential to overcome limitations of current strategies towards a spatio-temporal regulation of tissue repair.Significance StatementThe death of physiologically important cell populations underlies of a wide range of degenerative disorders, including Parkinson’s disease (PD). Two major strategies to counter cell degeneration, soluble growth factor injection and growth factor gene therapy, can lead to the undesired activation of bystander cells and non-natural permanent signaling responses. Here, we employed optogenetics to deliver cell type-specific pro-survival signals in a genetic model of PD. In Drosophila and human cells exhibiting loss of the PINK1 kinase, akin to autosomal recessive PD, we efficiently suppressed disease phenotypes using a light-activated tyrosine kinase receptor. This work demonstrates a spatio-temporally precise strategy to interfere with degeneration and may open new avenues towards tissue repair in disease models.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasiliki Panagiotakopoulou ◽  
Dina Ivanyuk ◽  
Silvia De Cicco ◽  
Wadood Haq ◽  
Aleksandra Arsić ◽  
...  

Abstract Parkinson’s disease-associated kinase LRRK2 has been linked to IFN type II (IFN-γ) response in infections and to dopaminergic neuronal loss. However, whether and how LRRK2 synergizes with IFN-γ remains unclear. In this study, we employed dopaminergic neurons and microglia differentiated from patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells carrying LRRK2 G2019S, the most common Parkinson’s disease-associated mutation. We show that IFN-γ enhances the LRRK2 G2019S-dependent negative regulation of AKT phosphorylation and NFAT activation, thereby increasing neuronal vulnerability to immune challenge. Mechanistically, LRRK2 G2019S suppresses NFAT translocation via calcium signaling and possibly through microtubule reorganization. In microglia, LRRK2 modulates cytokine production and the glycolytic switch in response to IFN-γ in an NFAT-independent manner. Activated LRRK2 G2019S microglia cause neurite shortening, indicating that LRRK2-driven immunological changes can be neurotoxic. We propose that synergistic LRRK2/IFN-γ activation serves as a potential link between inflammation and neurodegeneration in Parkinson’s disease.


2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gajanan S Revankar ◽  
Noriaki Hattori ◽  
Yuta Kajiyama ◽  
Tomohito Nakano ◽  
Masahito Mihara ◽  
...  

Abstract In Parkinson’s disease, a precursor phenomenon to visual hallucinations presents as ‘pareidolias’ which make ambiguous forms appear meaningful. To evoke and detect pareidolias in patients, a noise pareidolia test was recently developed, although its task-dependent mechanisms are yet to be revealed. When subjected to this test, we hypothesized that patients exhibiting pareidolias would show altered top-down influence of visual processing allowing us to demonstrate the influence of pareidolic illusionary behaviour in Parkinson’s disease patients. To that end, we evaluated eye-movement strategies and fixation-related presaccadic activity on scalp EEG when participants performed the test. Twelve healthy controls and 21 Parkinson’s disease patients, evaluated for cognitive, visuo-spatial and executive functions, took a modified computer-based version of the noise pareidolia test in a free-viewing EEG eye-tracking experiment. Eye-tracking metrics (fixation-related durations and counts) documented the eye movement behaviour employed in correct responses (face/noise) and misperceptions (pareidolia/missed) during early and late visual search conditions. Simultaneously, EEG recorded the presaccadic activity in frontal and parietal areas of the brain. Based on the noise pareidolia test scores, we found certain Parkinson’s disease patients exhibited pareidolias whereas others did not. ANOVA on eye-tracking data showed that patients dwelled significantly longer to detect faces and pareidolias which affected both global and local search dynamics depending on their visuo-perceptual status. Presaccadic activity in parietal electrodes for the groups was positive for faces and pareidolias, and negative for noise, though these results depended mainly on saccade size. However, patients sensitive to pareidolias showed a significantly higher presaccadic potential on frontal electrodes independent of saccade sizes, suggesting a stronger frontal activation for pareidolic stimuli. We concluded with the following interpretations (i) the noise pareidolia test specifically characterizes visuo-perceptual inadequacies in patients despite their wide range of cognitive scores, (ii) Parkinson’s disease patients dwell longer to converge attention to pareidolic stimuli due to abnormal saccade generation proportional to their visuo-perceptual deficit during early search, and during late search, due to time-independent alteration of visual attentional network and (iii) patients with pareidolias show increased frontal activation reflecting the allocation of attention to irrelevant targets that express the pareidolic phenomenon. While the disease per se alters the visuo-perceptual and oculomotor dynamics, pareidolias occur in Parkinson’s disease due to an abnormal top-down modulation of visual processing that affects visual attention and guidance to ambiguous stimuli.


2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 651-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahra Shahpiri ◽  
Roodabeh Bahramsoltani ◽  
Mohammad Hosein Farzaei ◽  
Fatemeh Farzaei ◽  
Roja Rahimi

AbstractParkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common chronic neurodegenerative disease that affects motor skills and cognitive performance. The conventional therapeutic approaches for the management of PD are just able to alleviate symptoms. Exploring for achieving novel substances with therapeutic benefits in PD patients is the focus of a wide range of current investigations. The aim of the present study is to comprehensively review phytochemicals with protective or therapeutic activities in PD and focus on their neuropsychopharmacological mechanisms. Various subgroups of polyphenols (flavonoids, phenolic acids, stilbenes, and lignanes) and terpenes are the most abundant groups of phytochemicals with well-established antiparkinsonian effects. Other phytochemical categories, such as alkaloids, cinnamates, carbohydrates, amino acids, and fatty acid amides, also have some representatives with positive effects in PD. Phytochemicals perform their antiparkinsonian effect through several mechanisms of action, including suppressing apoptosis (via the reduction of Bax/Bcl-2, caspase-3, -8, and -9, and α-synuclein accumulation), decreasing dopaminergic neuronal loss and dopamine depletion, reducing the expression of proinflammatory cytokines (such as prostaglandin E2, interleukin-6, interleukin-1β, and nuclear factor-κB), and modulating nuclear and cellular inflammatory signaling, elevation of neurotrophic factors, and improvement of antioxidant status. Plant-derived natural products can be considered as future pharmaceutical drugs or adjuvant treatment with conventional therapeutic approaches to improve their efficacy and alleviate their psychological adverse effects in the management of PD. Well-designed clinical trials are mandatory to evaluate the protective and healing benefits of phytochemicals as promising future drugs in the management of neurodegenerative diseases.


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