New Delhi, May 5
Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay have in a new study unravelled how disrupted brain activity impacts cognitive functions in Parkinson’s patients.
The study focussed on altered reward processing in Parkinson’s patients to decode why Parkinson’s patients lack motivation and have impaired decision-making.
Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder mainly causing shaky limbs, muscle stiffness, and slow movements. However, some Parkinson’s patients also manifest symptoms such as a lack of motivation or disability in experiencing pleasure, attributed to a lack of dopamine hormone.
Commonly known as the ‘feel-good’ hormone, dopamine is generally produced when performing a pleasurable task or receiving a reward.
Lack of dopamine in individuals with Parkinson’s leads to altered brain activity and impaired reward processing -- the brain's ability to recognise, value, and respond to rewarding stimuli.
To investigate reward processing in individuals with Parkinson’s, the team used brain signals.
The results showed that reward positivity, was weaker in Parkinson’s patients, indicating that their brains do not process rewards effectively. Reward positivity is essential for cognitive processes like attention, learning, and emotional responses.
Further, dopamine medication failed to restore the reward positivity.