Will temporal interference step into the spotlight in 2026 for Parkinson’s and beyond? Temporal interference refers to using two high-frequency electrical currents to create a lower-frequency stimulation that can non-invasively reach deeper brain regions.

Could dentate nucleus DBS be applied to treat spinocerebellar ataxia (SCA)? Zhao and colleagues describe in a new paper in Movement Disorders that dentate nucleus deep brain stimulation delivered meaningful improvement to folks living w/ spinocerebellar ataxia at 6 months of follow up.

We desperately need new research tools to move the ball forward in Parkinson's. How about seeing dopamine in a new light? Enter 'far-red sensors' that unlock multiplex brain signals. Could a far-red dopamine sensor open the door to simultaneously watching multiple brain chemicals 'in action.'

Can you level up your movement in Parkinson's by playing video games 'remotely?' Gamification refers to using game-like elements to motivate real-world behavior change, such as increasing your daily steps. Remote and automated gamification program helped veterans increase their daily steps.

Are we inching closer to actually seeing alpha-synuclein in living brains? In a new paper, Weiss and colleagues describe a method called Advanced Sensing of Aggregates in Parkinson’s Disease that may enable direct visualization of nanoscale alpha-synuclein assemblies in human brain tissue.

A miracle pill for Parkinson's is 50 years old. Why can't most of the world get it? Ray and I wrote a new Op-Ed on www.pdplan.org Subscribe to our new substack column here: cutt.ly/2r6Rc1AT Link to statnews.com Op-Ed out that dropped this morning: www.statnews.com/2025/11/04/p...

Could turning difficulty when walking today signal Parkinson’s tomorrow? A new paper in Annals of Neurology: subtle changes in how folks turn (looking at angular velocity with a sensor) when they walk, may predict a future diagnosis of Parkinson’s, possibly years before symptoms become obvious.

Iron is not a 'villain' just rusting the brain, it may be trying to heal it. Check out this 2025 update on brain iron in Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s and beyond. Their work reframes iron not just as a villain, but also as an essential player in brain health whose imbalance can be damaging.

Is asleep deep brain stimulation (DBS) safe? Gabriel El-Hajj and colleagues describe in a new paper in Brain and Spine that asleep deep brain stimulation performed under general anesthesia may be just as safe as traditional awake DBS.

Have you thought about how advertising to health care professionals shapes your Parkinson’s care? Spoiler alert: Marketing meets medicine all the time. Non-propositional content refers to advertising images/messages that cannot be judged as true or false, yet influence your emotions and decisions.

The Wall Street Journal just ran a piece featuring my co-author Ray Dorsey. Here are a couple of powerful quotes from the story by Sumathi Reddy. - "Minimize exposure to dry-cleaning chemicals." - “Do whatever you can to improve indoor air quality.” - "Drink clean water."

Do you know what the brain 'looks like' when you have both essential tremor and dementia? Spoiler alert: Think Alzheimer's changes. New paper in Neurology that when folks w/ essential tremor develop dementia, their brains at autopsy frequently show Alzheimer-type changes.

When Parkinson’s enters a relationship have you thought about how Couples cope, connect and sometimes drift apart? This effort was a qualitative study, which means it was based on in-depth interviews or observations rather than numbers or statistics.

A technological approach to treat macular degeneration? New amazing study just dropped in NEJM. Subretinal photovoltaic implants are an emerging path for vision restoration in age-related macular degeneration. Too many people in my practice w/ well controlled PD are also fighting this malady.

GBA1 mutations and DBS: Folks, there’s more to the story. Avenali and colleagues describe in a new paper folks carrying GBA1 variants can still benefit from DBS w/o an additional cognitive penalty. They followed >600 individuals across 14 centers to explore how genetics intersected w/ long-term DBS.

Do we need a plan to end the Parkinson Pandemic? Spoiler alert: We were all worried by estimates of Parkinson revealing 12 million cases by 2035, however we are already at 12 million cases today.

Can probiotics calm the gut and the brain in Parkinson’s? Results of a randomized study on a four-strain probiotic just dropped. Spoiler alert: Maybe. A four-strain probiotic affected the gut bacteria, inflammation and symptoms in Parkinson’s: An international randomized clinical trial.

UK Parkinson's incidence update: are cleaner environments leveling the curve or are diagnoses shifting? Spoiler alert: It is probably both. Gandhi and colleagues describe in a new paper tracking PD and seven other 'parkinsonisms' across incidence, prevalence, survival and demographics.

Can we build a Parkinson’s lifestyle plan to 'change the game'? A paper that just dropped in The Lancet Neurology how lifestyle interventions, especially physical activity, nutrition and stress management are quickly emerging as both symptom relieving and possibly disease modifying for Parkinson.

Should we have a holistic wellness prescription for Parkinson’s? A committee from the Movement Disorders Society says YES in a new blueprint for living well. The word holistic: approach that considers the whole person: mind, body and social environment, rather than just individual symptoms.

Nice piece today in the Washington Post by Jennifer Hassan who explores the power of sharing images of people w/ diseases like Parkinson's and also the power of using images of modern therapies. The example she wrote about was a woman playing the clarinet during awake DBS. wapo.st/4nBWZUB

Do you know what a ‘deceptive placebo’ is and how it might shape neurological care? A placebo is an inactive treatment that can improve symptoms through psychological and neurobiological mechanisms like expectation and conditioning.

Four surprising things that may reduce your risk of Parkinson’s: A new article just dropped in Washington Post. Risk refers to likelihood that someone will develop a disease or condition based on genetic, environmental or lifestyle. This article explored how everyday choices could be important.

A new spark for steadier hands? An AI-Driven nerve stimulation eased essential tremor in a randomized study. Transcutaneous peripheral nerve stimulation is a technique that uses mild electrical impulses delivered through the skin to activate nerves in the arm and influence brain circuits.

Are we ready to bring closed-loop neuromodulation into psychiatric disorders? Closed-loop neuromodulation refers to brain stimulation that automatically adjusts its output based on real-time feedback allowing therapy to be personalized to the brain’s state, rather than applying fixed stimulation.

Should we prescribe pickleball like a pill? YES. Spoiler alert: There are a lot of injuries in this sport, especially in the age range that line up w/ the many folks w/ chronic diseases like Parkinson's.

Toxic truths are emerging. Do you know how everyday chemicals may be fueling the rise of Parkinson’s? A new important paper in Lancet Neurology just dropped. Toxicants are harmful substances in the environment that can damage cells and organs contributing to diseases such as Parkinson’s.

Frozen in addiction: Did you know that synthetic drugs can trigger movement disorders? Camptocormia describes a severe forward bending of the trunk while standing or walking and is a posture sometimes observed in PD. Alarmingly observed in people using synthetic opioids like fentanyl and xylazine.

Is it time to unite the world for Parkinson’s? Key takeaways from the inaugural global Parkinson’s summit. The growth and burden of Parkinson’s on the planet is becoming a critical concern.

Do you know about the hidden influences of apathy in early-onset PD. Mediators of apathy are the in-between factors that carry the effect of one problem to another outcome. How apathy links to quality of life in early-onset Parkinson’s disease: stress, meaning in life and psychological capital.

RIP Dr. Nolan R. Williams (1983-2025) professor at Stanford. He was a pioneer in the treatment of depression and a friend. I read this Substack eulogy on him this morning, and I thought it really captured both the man and his brilliance. thefrontierpsychiatrists.substack.com/p/a-eulogy-f...

Stem cells strike again: Promising results from a new Parkinson’s trial just published in the journal Cell. Dopaminergic progenitors are early-stage brain cells that can mature into dopamine producing neurons. These are some but not all of the cells (and circuits) lost in Parkinson’s disease.

Should we be rethinking glutamate? Maybe we should we be targeting mGlu receptors as the next generation of Parkinson’s therapies? Metabotropic glutamate (mGlu) receptors are brain proteins that regulate how neurons communicate using the chemical messenger glutamate.

Are we measuring the wrong primary outcome for GLP-1 drugs for Parkinson’s? Spoiler alert: the pooled data suggests we should pivot away from a motor outcome. Should we think cognitive, autonomic, sleep and mood or maybe primary prevention?

Is there an impostor in the brain? Is Capgras more common in Alzheimer's, Lewy Body Dementia or Parkinson's? Spoiler alert: Lewy Body is the most common presentation. Capgras can teach us both about identity and neurodegeneration.

Ray Rosales from the Phillipines presented a beautiful plenary talk at MDS Hawaii based on his paper in Nature Reviews Neurology. How clusters of parkinsonism around the world, from Guam to Guadeloupe, from Japan to France, reveal to us striking lessons about the interplay w/ environmental toxins.

Do you know how evolution shaped human vulnerability to neurological diseases? The term ‘antagonistic pleiotropy’ means a single gene can have both helpful and harmful effects. A gene can help us to survive early in life, however later may increase disease risk.

The 2025 #NobelPrize in Chemistry was awarded today for the development of metal-organic frameworks, molecular sponges with applications in gas storage, water purification and more: www.compoundchem.com/2025/10/08/2... #ChemSky 🧪

Striking new data were presented from the AMT-130 gene therapy program for Huntington’s disease at the Movement Disorders Society meeting in Hawaii this morning, Thanks to Dr. Deborah Hall from Rush for bringing us the breaking data beyond just the press release. @hdsa-mari.bsky.social

CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in humans for neuroapthy? YES. A one-time gene editing therapy showed promise in Hereditary ATTR Neuropathy. Gene editing refers to the precise alteration of DNA sequences w/in cells and is used to correct or disable disease causing genes.

Can a brain parasite move us? YES. Movement disorders can present as part of a Toxoplasmosis infection. What is Toxo? Garg and colleagues describe in a new paper in Tremor and Other Hyperkinetic Movements how central toxoplasmosis can cause a wide spectrum of movement disorders like hemichorea.

Are there clues we are missing in the gut? Spoiler alert: Microbiome differences in Parkinson’s vs isolated REM sleep behavior disorder. The intestinal microbiota refers to the trillions of microorganisms living in our gut that play critical roles in digestion, immunity and possibly brain health.

What’s on the health supplement label matters. A structure and function claim refers to language describing how a nutrient supports normal body function, for example it states supports brain health w/o stating that it prevents/treats a disease. We should teach people about this and let them choose.

Do you know how a quaking idea reshaped neuroscience, prion and the Parkinson's field? We must reflect on the discoveries that triggered shifts in a field, like the α-synuclein seeding assay for Parkinson’s.

Should we be stimulating the old vagus nerve (e.g. VNS) to steady movement and quiet inflammation in Parkinson’s and beyond? How about a 2025 update? The vagus nerve is the major parasympathetic highway linking brainstem nuclei to body organs and it can be electrically stimulated!

New nationwide data links TCE exposure to higher Parkinson’s risk. Trichloroethylene or TCE is a widely used industrial solvent and environmental contaminant that can be found in air, soil and water. New paper: TCE associated w/ increased risk of Parkinson’s in older adults across USA.

Anti-amyloid therapy moves to 'the home' as the FDA approves subcutaneous maintenance dosing for Alzheimer’s disease. Could this be the beginning of a shift in the treatment landscape for Alzheimer’s disease. @alzassociation.bsky.social

Do you know how genes and the environment shape Parkinson’s disease? Does the time (or the temporal sequence) of events matter? Genetic risk factors unfold over time, interact w/ environmental exposures and may contribute to the many ways Parkinson’s disease shows itself. @thelancet.com

KevinMD just dropped a post on expanding the Parkinson’s universe of care for persons w/ Parkinson’s, caregivers, clinicians and communities. The post is focused on an excerpt from the just published book, the Parkinson’s Plan www.pdplan.org

Could the Parkinson’s drug levodopa prime the brain to respond better to intensive rehabilitation following a stroke or injury? Enter the idea: Let’s give dopamine pills after a stroke? Spoiler alert: This new large, randomized trial published in JAMA revealed no added benefit in recovery.