Mechanism Behind Sensory Deficits in Parkinson’s

Summary: Researchers hope discovery will pave the way to developing new methods for earlier diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.

Source: Karolinska Institute.

Although Parkinson’s disease is often associated with motor symptoms such as stiffness, poor balance and trembling, the first symptoms are often sensory and include a reduced sense of touch and smell. In a study on mice, researchers at Karolinska Institutet have now been able to identify neural circuits and mechanisms behind this loss of sensory perception. The study, which is published in the scientific journal Neuron, may open avenues to methods of earlier diagnosis.

There are some 18,000 people with Parkinson’s disease in Sweden, and around 2,000 new diagnoses every year. The disease, which is one of our most common neurological conditions, is currently incurable, although its symptoms can be alleviated.

When we think of Parkinson’s disease, we often focus on its motor symptoms, such as stiffness and trembling, which are caused by a gradual decrease in the dopamine supply to a brain area called the striatum, the primary input nucleus of the basal ganglia.

Research on Parkinson’s disease has mainly focused on these motor impairments. However, patients are also affected by severe sensory problems, including an impaired sense of smell, touch and vision, and this area of research has remained relatively neglected.

Image shows the basal ganglia in the brain.
“Our study highlights the sensory aspects of basal ganglia function and presents a new approach to the mechanisms behind the sensory impairments seen in Parkinson’s disease,” says Gilad Silberberg, associate professor at Karolinska Institutet’s Department of Neuroscience. NeuroscienceNews.com image is for illustrative purposes only.

“Our study highlights the sensory aspects of basal ganglia function and presents a new approach to the mechanisms behind the sensory impairments seen in Parkinson’s disease,” says Gilad Silberberg, associate professor at Karolinska Institutet’s Department of Neuroscience.

The researchers in the present study used a light puff of air to stimulate either the right or left whiskers of mice, some of which had an especially low number of dopamine cells, while using a new optogenetic tool called an optopatcher. Applying this technique, which enables the activity of neurons to be recorded during manipulation with light, they were able to see which neurons in the basal ganglia were active and when they transmitted signals.

“By studying neuronal activity in the striatum, we found that the neurons in dopamine-depleted mice did not properly signal if it was the right or left whiskers that were being stimulated,” says Dr Silberberg. “But when we treated the mice with L-DOPA, the most commonly used Parkinson’s drug, they recovered their ability to distinguish between left and right.”

It is hoped that the discovery will open the way for methods of earlier diagnosis.

About this neuroscience research article

Funding: The study was financed by the ERC, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Swedish Brain Fund, Karolinska Institutet and the Swedish Research Council.

Source: Karolinska Institute
Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is in the public domain.
Video Source: Video credited to cellvideoabstracts.
Original Research: Abstract for “Dopamine Depletion Impairs Bilateral Sensory Processing in the Striatum in a Pathway-Dependent Manner” by M. Ketzef, G. Spigolon, Y. Johansson, A. Bonito-Oliva, G. Fisone, and G. Silberberg in Neuron. Published online May 2 2017 doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2017.05.004

Cite This NeuroscienceNews.com Article

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]Karolinska Institute “Mechanism Behind Sensory Deficits in Parkinson’s.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 19 May 2017.
<https://neurosciencenews.com/parkinsons-sensory-deficits-6731/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]Karolinska Institute (2017, May 19). Mechanism Behind Sensory Deficits in Parkinson’s. NeuroscienceNew. Retrieved May 19, 2017 from https://neurosciencenews.com/parkinsons-sensory-deficits-6731/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]Karolinska Institute “Mechanism Behind Sensory Deficits in Parkinson’s.” https://neurosciencenews.com/parkinsons-sensory-deficits-6731/ (accessed May 19, 2017).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]


Abstract

Dopamine Depletion Impairs Bilateral Sensory Processing in the Striatum in a Pathway-Dependent Manner

Highlights
•Striatal sensory responses were studied by whole-cell recordings and optogenetics
•DA depletion affects intrinsic and sensory properties in direct pathway neurons
•The encoding of bilateral tactile stimuli is impaired following DA depletion
•Administration of L-DOPA can correct sensory deficits caused by DA depletion

Summary
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a movement disorder caused by the loss of dopaminergic innervation, particularly to the striatum. PD patients often exhibit sensory impairments, yet the underlying network mechanisms are unknown. Here we examined how dopamine (DA) depletion affects sensory processing in the mouse striatum. We used the optopatcher for online identification of direct and indirect pathway projection neurons (MSNs) during in vivo whole-cell recordings. In control mice, MSNs encoded the laterality of sensory inputs with larger and earlier responses to contralateral than ipsilateral whisker deflection. This laterality coding was lost in DA-depleted mice due to adaptive changes in the intrinsic and synaptic properties, mainly, of direct pathway MSNs. L-DOPA treatment restored laterality coding by increasing the separation between ipsilateral and contralateral responses. Our results show that DA depletion impairs bilateral tactile acuity in a pathway-dependent manner, thus providing unexpected insights into the network mechanisms underlying sensory deficits in PD.

“Dopamine Depletion Impairs Bilateral Sensory Processing in the Striatum in a Pathway-Dependent Manner” by M. Ketzef, G. Spigolon, Y. Johansson, A. Bonito-Oliva, G. Fisone, and G. Silberberg in Neuron. Published online May 2 2017 doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2017.05.004

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Behind Sensory Deficits in Parkinson’s

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