Learn about Parkinson's Disease

1. Parkinson’s Disease
Understanding the Brain:The Neurobiology of Everyday Life
Final Project

2. About
Parkinson’s
Disease
 Parkinson’s is a brain disorder in which parts of the brain become
damaged over several years.
 It causes unintended or uncontrollable movements
 The main symptoms include:
Tremor – certain body part involuntarily shaking
 Slow movement
 Muscle stiffness
 Other psychological symptoms include:
 Insomnia
 Anosmia
 Memory problems

3. Causes of
Parkinson’s
Disease
 Symptoms of Parkinson’s develops when 90 % of the substantia nigra
cells in the basal ganglia ( brain area that controls movement) die.
 Substantia nigra cells play an important role in producing the chemical
dopamine
 There are two main roles of dopamine:
1. Serves as the motor oil for movement
2. Facilitates the direct pathway, releasing our movement from inhibition
 Therefore, there would be a reduction of movement with reduction of
dopamine in the brain

4. My Example
 My 83 year old grandmother was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease
last year. She went through two tests for her diagnosis: Heart Rate
Variability (HRV) test for measuring her autonomic nervous system
and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan. For a couple of weeks,
hand tremor, delusions, and hallucinations were her symptoms. She
would often call my other relatives late at night and talk as if she was
living in her past, not aware of her current surroundings. She also had
delayed movement due to the progressive stiffening of her muscles.
Later on, she was treated by taking constant medications, presumably
levodopa, which is a substance absorbed by the nerve cells in the brain
and turned into dopamine.

5. The Central Nervous System in Parkinson’s Disease
Source: https://flexbooks.ck12.org/cbook/ck-12-middle-school-life-
science-2.0/section/11.42/primary/lesson/central-nervous-system-
ms-ls/
 TheCentralNervousSystemismainlycomposedof
thebrain,spinalcord,andneurons.
 “Theonlyneuronsthatleavethecentralnervous
system,aretheseneuronsthatserveamotor
function.”(ProfessorMason,week1,Meningesvideo)
 Thenervecellsinthebrainresponsibleformovement
ofthebodyisaffectedinParkinson’sdisease

6. Active Parts of the Nervous System in Parkinson’s Disease
• Basal ganglia
Source: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/313596
 TheBasal gangliaisamajorcomponentinthebrainthemodulates
movement.
 Sourcesofinput:corticalmotorcontrolcenter & motorcontrolcenter
 Byprocessingthesignalsthatarrivefromthecortex,theBasalganglia
allowsthecorrectexecutionofvoluntarymovements.
 TheroleofBasalgangliarevolvesaroundwhetherornotaparticular
movementismade,ratherthanhowthatmovementismade.
 “SoParkinson’sdisease,whichisafairlycommondisease,involvesa
povertyofmovement.Andthat’sadiseaseofthebasalganglia.”
(ProfessorMason,week7,MotorModulationvideo)

7. Active Parts of the Nervous System in Parkinson’s Disease
• Substantia Nigra
Source: https://human-memory.net/substantia-nigra/
 Substantianigraisaregioninthebasalgangliawherethe
productionofdopamineoccurs. Itisacriticalpartthathelps
controlourbodymovements.
 “Nowifmorethan90%ofthesecellsdieapersonwillstartto
get,showthesymptomsofParkinson’s.”(ProfessorMason,
week8,Parkinson’sDiseasevideo)
 Thedegenerationofnervecellsinthesubstantianigra
resultsinreductionofdopamineandmovement.

8. Dopamine
Level
Comparison Source: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
 This diagram shows how a patient with Parkinson’s
disease relatively has an insufficient amount of dopamine
neurotransmitters to execute a voluntary movement,
compared to that of a healthy patient.

9. Reflection on
taking the course
on “Understanding
the Brain:The
Neurobiology of
Everyday life”
 After taking this course on neurobiology, it was a great experience to learn about
how each parts of our body plays a vital role in controlling our movements,
thoughts, emotions, senses, and so much more. I realized that we should not take
these functions of our body for granted, and should instead appreciate these
everyday life functions.
 As a student who was not provided with the best education in the topics regarding
the nervous system, this course was a valuable and high-quality supplementary
material that enhanced my understandings in neurobiology. It was interesting to
start from the basics, go deeper into the concepts, and learn about various real –
life examples.
 Additionally, I was amazed and thankful for professor Mason’s passion in
neurobiology. I deeply respect her expertise in this field and appreciate her great
enthusiasm in teaching all the interesting topics of this course. Her enthusiasm
helped me actively engage in her lectures and easily follow the contents.

10. Citations
Works Cited
“Central Nervous System: Structure, Function, and Diseases.” Medical News Today,
www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/307076#spinal-cord.
“Substantia Nigra | Functions, Location, Stucture, Clinical Significance.” The Human Memory, 31 Oct. 2019, human-
memory.net/substantia-nigra/.
NHS. “Overview - Parkinson’s Disease.” NHS, NHS, 2019, www.nhs.uk/conditions/parkinsons-disease/.
National Institute on Aging. “Parkinson’s Disease.” National Institute on Aging, 2017,
www.nia.nih.gov/health/parkinsons-disease#:~:text=Parkinson.
“Understanding Parkinson’s Disease | Brain Institute | OHSU.” OHSU, www.ohsu.edu/brain-institute/understanding-
parkinsons-disease.

11. Thank you!