by Chinese scientists have discovered subtle new earlier signs of Parkinson’s in mice, a progress that can help diagnose the weakening condition in humans much earlier.
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that behaviors such as rearing, walking and baking mice associated with the loss of a certain type of dopamine neurons in the Mittelbrain (DA) are connected to Parkinson’s disease.
The earliest known signs of Parkinson’s pain, anxiety, balance problems, stiffness, loss of odors, sleep problems and depression can include.
Other signs such as tremors, handwriting changes and reduced facial expressions later appear in the course of the disease.
Gradually, patients can have serious movement problems and highlight the importance of early diagnosis and treatment of the disease.
So far, research has mainly focused on the functions of the DA neurons in mood regulation and reward mechanisms.
These nerve cells are located in the regions in the medium brain -sub -substantia nigra pars compacta (SNC) and in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), which are essential for the regulation of movement, emotion and reward
But scientists say that the roles of the DA neurons in more subtle and more spontaneous behaviors are poorly understood.
In the most recent study, researchers found that behaviors such as rearing and bridges are associated with the loss of a kind of SNC -DAE neurons, but not with those in VTA.
These subtle behaviors could serve as key markers of the SNC -DA -Neuron loss and improve our understanding of Parkinson’s, as the study stated.
Scientists used an advanced system for the behavioral analysis for artificial intelligence to examine the movement of two mouse models with a dopamine neuron development.
With this approach, researchers could record detailed and nuanced behavioral features that can overlook conventional methods.
The study showed a reduction in rearing and humpback behavior in the PD model, which correlated directly with the loss of DA neurons in the SNC, but not with the VTA.
Another behavior in the mouse models, which is referred to as climbing and resembles rearing, was also strongly associated with the loss of DA neurons in the SNC area of the Mittelbrain.
The results underline the need to monitor rearing behavior as a potential behavior marker when pursuing the progress of Parkinson’s disease, scientists say.
“The combination of behavioral changes with targeted neuronal damage promotes the understanding of the PD forwarding and offers valuable insights into the improvement of treatment strategies,” said Xuemei Liu, author of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
