Category: Neuroscience

The earliest symptom of Parkinsons Disease is most often limb tremors, particularly when the body is at rest. For most people diagnosed with Parkinsons Disease, their first warning comes when a leg suddenly starts shaking while theyre laying in bed, and wont stop. The tremor can involve a hand, a foot, a leg or an…

The drug levodopa, also known as L-dopa, has been used since the 1960s as the primary drug treatment for Parkinson’s Disease. Levodopa is a natural substance that is found in both plants and animals. The compound is actually a precursor to dopamine, and unlike dopamine, it is able to cross the blood-brain barrier. As a…

We’ve all heard the term before, but what exactly is a migraine headache? And how does it differ from other headache types? One way to tell it’s a migraine is by the length of time it lasts. A migraine isn’t going to go away in a half-hour. Unless you are very, very, very lucky. Chances…

Migraines come with and without auras. Neither can be said to be less painful than the other, though the aura-less may be less stressful and frightening. Although migraines are often associated with auras, in fact only about 20% of migraine sufferers actually experience any of the symptoms of aura. The aura stage is part of…

Think youre alone in suffering from migraines? When the really bad ones hit, it certainly seems as you alone are the only suffering. As a matter of fact, however, not only are migraines incredibly common, but some of the most famous and well-known people in history have suffered from this debilitating neurological disease. Not only…

The term Mild Cognitive Impairment, or MCI, is increasingly being used to describe a syndrome of memory impairment that does NOT significantly impact daily activities and is not accompanied by declines in overall cognitive function. Researchers have found that between 6 and 25 percent of people with MCI progress on to Alzheimer’s, which has raised…

A significant number of people diagnosed with dementia are found to have tiny spherical structures called Lewy bodies in the nerve cells of their brains. It is thought these may contribute to the death of brain cells. The symptoms of this form of dementia are often mild at the outset and can be extremely variable…

There are many different forms of dementia and each has its own causes. Alzheimer’s Disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for between 50% and 70% of all dementias. The effects of the different types of dementia are similar, but not identical, as each one tends to affect different parts of the brain.…