Penn Receives $18M to Study Connections Between Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, and Dementia

Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research will look for linkages between Alzheimer's disease, dementia, and Parkinson's with an $18.1 million grant from the U.S. National Institute of Aging, reports Philly Voice . The money will underwrite projects to analyze genetic factors that cause these disorders to worsen. All three diseases have the presence of alpha-synuclein proteins in common. Distorted alpha-synuclein proteins that are not purged from the brain accrue into Lewy bodies and disrupt chemical signaling of dopamine and acetylcholine — which can impact thinking, memory, and movement. The researchers will explore how normal alpha-synuclein proteins become misshaped, to better understand the development of Parkinson's into dementia, as well as the reverse. The team also will seek to identify genetic risk factors for all three conditions through tissue sample analysis.