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Research
Parkinson’s puzzle piece found
Parkinson’s disease starts in the brain, barely noticed, and gradually affects the whole body. In a long-term study, researchers have found patterns of how the disease changes regional brain volume over the years.
Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder in which nerve cells are damaged in certain regions of the brain for unknown reasons. “Research on Parkinson’s disease is like a giant jigsaw puzzle, with each study providing a new piece. Hopefully one day we’ll be able to put the pieces together to cure or prevent the disease,” says Dr. Peter Pieperhoff from the Institute of Neurosciences and Medicine (INM-1). Together with colleagues from Jülich, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf and the Ernst von Bergmann Hospital in Potsdam, he added another piece to the puzzle: they detected a specific regional pattern of volume changes in the brains of Parkinson’s patients. The scientists could also provide evidence of a link between the decrease in brain volume in certain areas and the progression of the symptoms typical of Parkinson’s disease.
Peter Pieperhoff researches neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
For their study, the researchers examined a total of 37 Parkinson’s disease patients and 27 healthy people since 2005. Using magnetic resonance imaging, their brain volumes were determined at up to 15 different time points over a period of up to almost nine years. “Previous studies only examined the volumes either at fewer points in time or over shorter periods,” explains Pieperhoff. The researchers calculated the regional changes in brain structure using neuroanatomical atlases such as the Julich Brain Atlas. “In the end, we were able to identify a very specific pattern of volume changes in the patients. Over time, this pattern became increasingly different from that of the healthy ageing subjects,” Pieperhoff reports.
At the same time, the results confirmed a study by the neuropathologist Prof. Heiko Braak from 2003. He had examined the brains of deceased Parkinson’s disease patients under the microscope and used the data to divide the course of the disease into six stages. “There’s a striking correspondence between the two studies,” says Pieperhoff. The researchers now plan to apply the methods they have developed to larger groups of patients – in the hope of finding the next piece of the puzzle.
Katja Lüers
Parkinson’s disease
In Parkinson’s disease, the basal ganglia are mainly affected – especially the substantia nigra. This special group of nerve nuclei in the brain is responsible for movement coordination. The more nerve cells die as the disease progresses, the more severe the symptoms: slow, stiff movements, tremors, but also depression, dementia or physical problems such as sleep disorders become manifest. Psychiatric symptoms such as delusions and aggressive behaviour can also occur, especially in the later course of the disease. In Germany, about 250,000 to 400,000 people are affected. According to the German Parkinson’s Association, one in a hundred 60-year-olds suffers from Parkinson’s disease.
Jülich brain atlases
Julich-Brain Atlas …
is the name of the first 3D atlas of the human brain that maps the variability of brain structure with microscopic resolution. Researchers digitized over 240,000 brain slices, assembled them in 3D and mapped them. Through the Human Brain Project’s EBRAINS digital infrastructure, researchers can use the atlas to link data about function with the structure of the brain.
https://julich-brain-atlas.de/atlas
BigBrain …
is a 3D reconstruction of a single human brain from over 7,400 individual tissue slices with a resolution of 20 micrometres. With the model, it is possible to see and understand the complicated structure of the brain on the microscopic level in all three planes of space.
Photo: Forschungszentrum Jülich/Ralf-Uwe Limbach, Illustration:SeitenPlan