In Parkinson's disease, the cerebral cortex can take over tasks from a deeper part of the brain that has been damaged, where cells that make dopamine have been lost. The strength of compensation by the cerebral cortex determines how many symptoms people have. This is shown in a publication by Radboud university medical center. Patients can stimulate this compensation through sports, for example, and thus slow down the disease process.
They discovered that the outer layer of the brain, the cerebral cortex, can compensate for the loss of the cells that make dopamine, thereby delaying the worsening of symptoms. It turns out that the severity of symptoms is clearly related to compensation by the cerebral cortex. The more active it is in taking over tasks, the milder the slowness of movement and the better the thinking.
This discovery offers new leads for treatment and lifestyle. 'In parkinson's we solve the dopamine deficiency with drugs. But with these new findings we are now going to look much more at how we can strengthen that compensation by the cerebral cortex', says Rick Helmich, neurologist at Radboudumc. 'We saw in a previous study that exercising three times a week helps against symptoms, and prevents shrinkage of the cerebral cortex.
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