Paper: Philippens (2019) Parkinson's

Question 1

Philippens et al. (2019) reason that the movement disorder of Parkinson’s disease does not become apparent until after loss of more than 60% of dopamine-producing neuron in the substantia nigra because of compensation by the subthalamic nucleus and a neural pathway that includes the…

Answer 1

Red Nucleus

Question 2

In an initial study, Philippens et al. (2019) found that monkeys with a larger red nucleus after pharmacologically-induced parkinsonian symptoms showed fewer symptoms, suggesting that plastic changes in the red nucleus are associated with compensatory brain changes. In a second study, the investigators found fewer parkinsonian symptoms and larger red nucleus size among monkeys who received neurofeedback to…

Answer 2

increase SMR.

(In a second study, the investigators found fewer parkinsonian symptoms and larger red nucleus size among monkeys who received neurofeedback to increase SMR.)