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Researchers dissecting Parkinson's

Advances offer hope for patients struggling with complex disease

By ARENA WELCH
Eagle Staff Writer
Updated 6:25 AM on Saturday, September 15, 2007

"When Dr. Mahlon DeLong began studying neurology, scientists thought that the brain worked like a funnel, sending impulses in a straight path to the cerebral cortex to control movement and other functions.

"But in the past 30 years, that theory has evolved as experts have learned more about how the brain functions, DeLong said.

"We came to the realization that there was not a funnel but a series of loops that connect the cortex with [other parts of the brain]," he said.

"That's important because researchers can single out the parts of the brain that correspond to various medical disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, he said.

"Parkinson's is largely a movement disorder, and it's a disturbance in the motor circuit [that causes the disease]," he said.

"DeLong, a professor of neurology at Emory University, was a keynote speaker Friday during the Texas Brain and Spine Institute's annual neuroscience symposium."

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