[Stitcher]

UC team studies link between Parkinson's disease and depression

Public release date: 28-Aug-2008
Contact: Keith Herrell
keith.herrell@uc.edu
513-558-4559
University of Cincinnati
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releas...-uts082808.php

CINCINNATI—A patient who receives a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease might become depressed, and understandably so. But does the depression then exacerbate the progression of Parkinson's?

That's one of the questions a team of University of Cincinnati researchers is studying, with the help of a $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative neurological disorder involving the death of dopamine-producing cells, or neurons, deep within the brain. Depression is highly prevalent in Parkinson's disease, previous research has found.

Principal investigator Kim Seroogy, PhD, and co-investigator James Herman, PhD, are studying a stress-induced model of depression and Parkinson's in rodents. Seroogy is a professor of neurology and director of the Selma Schottenstein Harris Lab for Research in Parkinson's at the James J. and Joan A. Gardner Family Center for Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders. Herman is a professor of psychiatry and director of the university's neuroscience graduate program.

READ article