Aug 11, 2026
Low dopamine levels can produce opposite changes
Written by Marisa Horak, MS | July 31, 2026
- Parkinson's disease causes varied, even opposite, changes in brain circuits due to low dopamine levels.
- Low dopamine levels correlate with motor symptoms; cognitive issues are linked to abnormalities in brain circuits.
- Monitoring brain circuit activity may help track cognitive problems and treatment response.
Low dopamine levels disrupt nerve circuits in the brain in Parkinson’s disease — but a new study indicates that different brain circuits show different, even opposite, types of changes.
The study’s findings shed new light on how brain circuits are affected by Parkinson’s. The researchers said their data also suggest that looking at brain circuits may be a useful way to monitor certain Parkinson’s symptoms, particularly problems with cognition.
The study, “Dopamine-related alterations in functional brain network dynamic reconfiguration in Parkinson’s disease,” was published in npj Parkinson’s Disease.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, a signaling molecule that nerve cells in the brain use to communicate with each other. In Parkinson’s, the brain cells that are normally responsible for producing dopamine sicken and die, resulting in abnormally low dopamine levels.
Low dopamine levels in the brain disrupt neurological signaling, which ultimately gives rise to Parkinson’s symptoms. While this paradigm is well established, scientists don’t fully understand how low dopamine affects all the various neurological circuits throughout the brain.
Aug 10, 2026
Sasineprocel gets regenerative medicine advanced therapy designation
Written by Marisa Horak, MS | Aug. 3, 2026
- FDA granted RMAT designation to sasineprocel, a cell therapy for Parkinson's disease.
- This therapy uses engineered stem cells to replace lost dopaminergic neurons.
- Early trial data indicates sasineprocel is safe, improving patient function and quality of life.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted regenerative medicine advanced therapy (RMAT) designation to sasineprocel (ANPD001), an experimental cell therapy to treat Parkinson’s disease.
The designation, given to promising regenerative therapies (treatments that aim to replace or restore disease-damaged tissue) that could substantially improve care for serious diseases, provides developer Aspen Neuroscience with perks such as more intensive FDA guidance.
“This significant milestone highlights the transformative nature of sasineprocel as a potentially disease-modifying therapy for patients facing a serious disease with substantial unmet medical need,” Damien McDevitt, PhD, president and CEO of Aspen, said in a company press release. “We stand with the Parkinson’s community realizing the urgency around the serious and growing unmet need in [Parkinson’s] and are unwavering in our commitment to bring sasineprocel to patients as soon as possible.”
Aug 7, 2026
July 29, 2026 | Lauren Woods
UConn Health Parkinson's disease patients like Jose Figueroa are experiencing the power of a UConn-made protein shake being tested by the UConn research team in an FDA clinical study.
Jose Figueroa, 66, of New Britain is “so grateful” for UConn and its powerful cross-campus collaboration helping improve the health and quality of life of Parkinson’s disease patients just like him.
Figueroa has been battling Parkinson’s disease for 16 years since being diagnosed in 2012 following his visit to the Emergency Department when a provider noticed his legs and arms were continuously shaking. He is a longtime patient at UConn Health and now its Brain and Spine Institute with Dr. Bernardo Rodrigues.
“Dr. Rodrigues is excellent. Anytime there is a new program or resource for Parkinson’s patients he always tells us,” says Figueroa. “It has helped so much.”
His wife also sees a big difference in the last year.
“Jose’s Parkinson’s used to be like an Earthquake,” says his wife, Emily. “But now there has been a big improvement. He no longer needs to use a cane to walk.”
His successful progress is all thanks to a UConn cross-campus collaboration to advance research between the Brain and Spine Institute’s faculty like Rodrigues at UConn School of Medicine with the researchers of UConn Storrs’ Department of Kinesiology and its dedicated Movement for Life Lab.
Just a year ago Figueroa started participating in an initial, three-week nutritional supplement study beginning to test the benefits of consuming a targeted, amino-acid protein shake developed by the Storrs research team led by Dr. Jacob Earp and Dr. C. Colon-Semenza. Their goal was to find a new way to assist PD patients like Figueroa by using a nutritional supplement designed specifically for those with Parkinson’s disease that is intended to be easier to consume than conventional supplements, reduce inflammation, and provide nutrients that support an active lifestyle.
“I felt really good while taking the shake. I definitely had more energy,” reports Figueroa. “A healthy shake can feel better than medicine. I would still take the shake if it was still available to me,” says Figueroa who also has learned the true benefits of not only the shake but adding daily exercise too.
Aug 6, 2026
Preclinical study links curcumin’s effects to cellular recycling pathways
Written by Marisa Horak, MS | Aug. 4, 2026
- Curcumin pretreatment helped protect motor function in a Parkinson’s mouse model.
- It activated autophagy and reduced cuproptosis, a copper-dependent form of cell death.
- The findings point to curcumin, autophagy, and cuproptosis as possible targets for further Parkinson’s research.
Pretreatment with curcumin, a compound found in the spice turmeric, helped protect motor function in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease, a new study found.
Findings suggest that curcumin helped protect dopamine-producing nerve cells by activating autophagy, a process cells use to recycle unneeded material. This cellular recycling process, in turn, appeared to reduce cuproptosis, a copper-dependent form of regulated cell death. The researchers proposed that these biological pathways might be useful targets for new Parkinson’s treatments.
The study, “Curcumin Attenuates Cuproptosis via Activating Autophagy Through Inhibition of the AKT/mTOR/P70S6K-Signaling Pathway in Parkinson’s Disease Models,” was published in Molecular Neurobiology.
Turmeric compound studied as a possible Parkinson’s therapy
Parkinson’s is a neurological disease characterized by the progressive loss of brain cells that produce dopamine, a chemical messenger involved in movement. The loss of these dopamine-producing cells disrupts normal nerve signaling in the brain, ultimately leading to disease symptoms.
Turmeric is an herb native to southern Asia that is widely used in food and has been used for millennia in Ayurvedic medicine, a traditional medical system that originated in India. One of turmeric’s main compounds is the antioxidant curcumin, which is largely responsible for the spice’s characteristic bright-yellow color.
There is no conclusive evidence that curcumin benefits people with Parkinson’s disease. However, because of its historical use in traditional medicine and antioxidant properties, researchers have been studying whether this naturally occurring compound could help treat Parkinson’s.
In this study, scientists at Taihe Hospital in China conducted a series of tests in a mouse model in which Parkinson’s-like symptoms are triggered by exposure to the chemical MPTP, which is toxic to dopamine-producing brain cells. MPTP exposure causes mice to lose weight and develop motor problems that resemble some features of Parkinson’s disease.
The researchers found that mice given curcumin before each MPTP exposure lost less weight and performed better on tests of motor function than mice given MPTP without curcumin pretreatment.
Aug 5, 2026
Language analysis outperforms standard tests in spotting cognitive issues
Written by Marisa Horak, MS | July 28, 2026
- Language analysis of storytelling detected Parkinson's cognitive issues better than standard tests.
- Parkinson's patients showed reduced storytelling accuracy, organization, and sometimes verbosity.
- This method offers a nuanced look at episodic memory problems in Parkinson's.
Language-based analyses of how people with Parkinson’s disease tell stories may provide a more nuanced look at how the disease affects memory and cognition, according to a study.
In fact, the data suggest that a language-based approach can distinguish between people with or without Parkinson’s more accurately than standard cognitive tests. The researchers called for further studies on how this type of language analysis might be deployed to monitor cognitive changes in patients with Parkinson’s.
An early-access version of the study, “Digitizing episodic memory assessments in Parkinson’s disease via natural language processing,” was published in npj Parkinson’s Disease.
Parkinson’s is a neurological disorder that often causes memory and cognition problems. One of the more common manifestations of Parkinson’s-related cognitive challenges is problems with episodic memory — that is, the ability to recall and recount specific events, such as a trip or a party.
A range of standardized cognitive tests is routinely used to check for memory issues in Parkinson’s. Most of these tests assess how well a person can recall facts — for example, by providing a list of numbers and later asking the person to recite it.
Taking a nuanced approach
But memory isn’t just about recalling discrete facts. This is especially true for episodic memory: A person’s memory of an event includes not only what happened, but also their emotions and sensory experiences. Standard cognitive tests that assess only how well people recall facts may miss key nuances in how memory is affected in people with Parkinson’s.
An international team of scientists tested a different approach, using a computer-based analytical technique called natural language processing. They had patients read two stories — one action-based, focused on movement, and one more focused on internal emotions — and then recount both. A computer then analyzed the patients’ words.
The computer looks at three factors: verbosity, or how many different types of words the person uses; semantic acuity, which refers to how accurately the facts of the story are recalled; and organizational similarity, which evaluates whether the patient’s retelling matches the structure of the original story.
To test this approach, the researchers recruited 35 people with Parkinson’s and 39 control participants without the disease. They found that, for both types of stories, those with Parkinson’s showed reduced semantic acuity and lower organizational similarity compared with controls. Parkinson’s patients were also less verbose than controls on the action story, though verbosity was similar for the emotion-focused story.
Aug 4, 2026
Hybridopa program leads to changes in brain networks involved in movement
Written by Michela Luciano, PhD | July 28, 2026
- Hybridopa, a digital app combined with levodopa, eased Parkinson's motor symptoms.
- This therapy induced structural and functional brain changes, suggesting neuroplasticity.
- It offers an integrated treatment approach for Parkinson's, with a Phase 3 trial planned.
Patients participating in a three-week digital intervention program designed to complement levodopa, the standard treatment for Parkinson’s disease, showed measurable structural and functional changes in brain networks involved in movement, accompanied by meaningful easing of motor symptoms.
The pilot study evaluated Remepy‘s investigational hybrid therapy, Hybridopa, in 32 adults with Parkinson’s disease who had participated in a Phase 2a trial. That study showed that people receiving Hybridopa, which combines levodopa with a prescription digital program called DopApp, experienced greater easing of motor and nonmotor symptoms than those given levodopa along with a placebo app.
The Phase 2a trial also found functional changes in brain networks involved in movement and mood regulation. The new findings add evidence of structural changes in those movement-related brain networks.
Remepy said the results suggest that Hybridopa may promote neuroplasticity — the brain’s ability to reorganize and strengthen its neural connections in response to learning — helping explain the clinical benefits seen in the earlier trial.
“Our Phase IIa trial showed that Hybridopa delivers meaningful clinical improvements for people living with Parkinson’s disease,” Or Shoval, cofounder and co-CEO of Remepy, said in a company press release. “This publication helps explain the neural mechanisms underlying those effects.”
Phase 3 trial planned
“Together, these findings support a shift in Parkinson’s treatment toward integrated approaches that combine pharmacological therapy with structured, system-level digital interventions,” said Michal Tsur, PhD, cofounder and co-CEO of Remepy. “This growing body of clinical and mechanistic evidence … is what motivates us to advance Hybridopa into Phase III later this year.”
The study, “Local and global microstructural and functional thalamomotor connectivity alterations in Parkinson’s disease following motor learning,” was published in npj Parkinson’s Disease.
Parkinson’s is caused by the progressive loss of nerve cells that produce dopamine, a brain chemical essential for controlling movement. In addition to motor symptoms, the disease can also cause nonmotor problems, including cognitive impairment. Although levodopa remains the standard Parkinson’s treatment, some motor symptoms often remain inadequately controlled.
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