Movement Disorders

Researchers from Osaka University have described a case of clinically typical Parkinson’s disease with unusual changes in the brain. As well as the expected findings of cell loss and inflammation in disease-related brain regions, there were accumulations of the protein TDP-43 instead of the usual alpha-synuclein inclusions. This report suggests that TDP-43 accumulation can cause Parkinson’s disease-like symptoms and brain changes, which may be important for developing new treatments for this currently uncurable disease.