New brain model 'will give scientists insight into Parkinson's brain injury'RSS Feed

A new model of the brain's circuitry could improve understanding of the brain injury seen in Parkinson's disease.

The model, published Chaos: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Nonlinear Science, could provide scientists with a better understanding of how and why information is not correctly transmitted in the brains of Parkinson's patients.

Scientists examined the electrical signal within Parkinson's brains and found that repetitious, overlapped firing of neurons can lead to overly synchronised brain activity.

Study leader Leonid L Rubchinsky commented that the mathematical model provides insight that scientists could not obtain from brains in human or animal studies.

"With this new modelling we, and others, can now better study the mechanisms of information transmission in the Parkinsonian brain - both how the mechanisms work and how they fail. We can also learn about the properties of the cells that are responsible," he said.

This follows research from Tel Aviv University which reported that new stem cell technology could protect against neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease.

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Posted by Paul Breen
 

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