Parkinson's disease pathophysiology

At present, the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease is not clear.

Data provide direct electrophysiological support for the existence of functionally segregated cortico-basal ganglia networks controlling motor behavior in Parkinson patients, and corroborate the assumption of Parkinson patients being shifted from habitual towards goal-directed behavior ¹⁾.

Many studies suggest that MicroRNAs play a very important role in the progress of Parkinsonism.

Many studies showed that abnormal oscillations in the cortical basal ganglia pathway is involved in the pathophysiology of Parkinson's disease (PD).

Beta band oscillations in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) have been proposed as a pathophysiological signature in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD).

Results show a correlation between local STN 8 to 35 Hz power and impairment in PD, further supporting the role of subthalamic oscillatory activity as a potential biomarker for PD ²⁾.

¹⁾

Bichsel O, Gassert R, Stieglitz L, Uhl M, Baumann-Vogel H, Waldvogel D, Baumann CR, Imbach LL. Functionally separated networks for self-paced and externally-cued motor execution in Parkinson's disease: Evidence from deep brain recordings in humans. Neuroimage. 2018 May 5. pii: S1053-8119(18)30410-5. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.05.012. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 29738912.

²⁾

Neumann WJ, Degen K, Schneider GH, Brücke C, Huebl J, Brown P, Kühn AA. Subthalamic synchronized oscillatory activity correlates with motor impairment in patients with Parkinson's disease. Mov Disord. 2016 Aug 22. doi: 10.1002/mds.26759. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 27548068.