Chung's Internet Project

Parkinson's Disease

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This Web project was developed as part of "Internet Resources" courses offered by the Biology and Geology departments of the California State University, Los Angeles in 1995 and 1996. It was submitted to the instructors for evaluation and then placed on-line by the Electronic Desktop Project (EDP). EDP does not update or maintain any of the material of this project, and does not vouch for validity or correctness. Furthermore, the student developing this project was instructed about the rules of copyrights. EDP can in no way be responsible for the inclusion of copyrighted material within this project.

In 1817, an English country physician by the name of James Parkinson described symptoms seen in several people in "An Essay on Shaking Palsy". These symptoms involved tremor, increased muscle tone, difficulting initiating voluntary movements and slow movement once initiated. Today, Parkinson's Disease (PD), also known as paralysis agitans, is probably the best characterized disease involving the basal ganglia. The basal ganglia is one of two subcortical loops, the other being the cerebellum, where commands from the cerebral cortex are analyzed and modulated before final actions are initiated. It was the first disease of the brain associated with a deficiency of a particular neurotransmitter, in the case of Parkinson's Disease, dopamine. In Parkinson's Disease, up to 90% of the dopaminergic neurons, whose cell bodies are in the substancia nigra, degenerate. For additional information click on introduction or what is Parkinson's Disese?

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Symptoms

Stages of Parkinson's

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