UC team studies link between Parkinson’s and depression

A $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health is allowing University of Cincinnati researchers to study if depression exacerbates the progression of Parkinson’s disease.

Kim Seroogy, PhD and James Herman, PhD are studying the effects of stress on Parkinson’s-induced rodents to determine which comes first – Parkinson’s or depression – since depression is highly prevalent in Parkinson’s patients.

So far, the researchers have found that in rodents that have stress combined with Parkinson’s, the normal loss of dopamine cells in the brain is accelerated.

They hope that learning more about the relationship between depression and Parkinson’s will lead to possible treatments for Parkinson’s, which could include the use of antidepressants.

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