New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Reference Terms
from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease (paralysis agitans or PD) is a neurodegenerative disease of the substantia nigra, an area in the basal ganglia of the brain. The disease involves a progressive disorder of the extrapyramidal system, which controls and adjusts communication between neurons in the brain and muscles in the human body. It also commonly involves depression and disturbances of sensory systems.

Related Stories
 


Mind & Brain News

December 9, 2025

Most people worldwide aren’t getting enough omega-3, leaving a major gap between scientific recommendations and daily diets. Researchers emphasize the critical role of EPA and DHA across all life stages and point out that food alone often can’t ...
Researchers discovered that a tiny structural feature of the enzyme GPX4 helps keep neurons safe. A rare mutation removes this protection, allowing harmful molecules to damage cell membranes and trigger early dementia. Mouse and cell studies showed ...
Deep-brain recordings showed that Mounjaro and Zepbound briefly shut down the craving circuits linked to food noise in a patient with severe obesity. Her obsessive thoughts about food disappeared as the medication quieted the nucleus accumbens, the ...
Researchers have built a fully implantable device that sends light-based messages directly to the brain. Mice learned to interpret these artificial patterns as meaningful signals, even without touch, sight, or sound. The system uses up to 64 ...
Human biology evolved for a world of movement, nature, and short bursts of stress—not the constant pressure of modern life. Industrial environments overstimulate our stress systems and erode both health and reproduction. Evidence ranging from ...
Scientists uncovered a surprising four-layer structure hidden inside the hippocampal CA1 region, one of the brain’s major centers for memory, navigation, and emotion. Using advanced RNA imaging techniques, the team mapped more than 330,000 genetic ...
A large study found that people with impaired kidneys tend to have higher Alzheimer’s biomarkers, yet they don’t face a higher overall risk of dementia. For those who already have elevated biomarkers, kidney problems may speed up when symptoms ...
Researchers found that people with anxiety disorders consistently show lower choline levels in key brain regions that regulate thinking and emotions. This biochemical difference may help explain why the brain reacts more intensely to stress in ...
Researchers studying people with major psychiatric disorders found that drinking up to four cups of coffee a day is associated with longer telomeres. This suggests a potential slowing of biological aging by about five years. However, drinking five ...
A unique vaccine rollout in Wales gave researchers an accidental natural experiment that revealed a striking reduction in dementia among seniors who received the shingles vaccine. The protective effect held steady across multiple analyses and was ...
Researchers have solved the decades-old mystery behind how a common pregnancy drug lowers blood pressure. It turns out the medication blocks a fast-acting “oxygen alarm” inside cells. That same ...
Scientists have discovered that a single gene, GRIN2A, can directly cause mental illness—something previously thought to stem only from many genes acting together. People with certain variants of this gene often develop psychiatric symptoms much ...

Latest Headlines

updated 12:56 pm ET