Our scientists have for the first time in the world discovered the underlying functional network mechanism of Parkinson's disease

Changping Laboratory scientist Professor Liu Hesheng’s team announced on the 5th that they have discovered the underlying functional network mechanism of Parkinson’s disease and have directly intervened in this network, achieving good results in clinical research. This discovery is a world first. The groundbreaking achievement was published in the international academic journal Nature on the 5th. The research team found that the core issue of Parkinson’s disease is a severe functional abnormality in a key brain network—the somatosensory network—in the brain. This network mainly participates in action planning and coordination and is closely related to autonomic nervous functions such as visceral activity. In a comprehensive analysis of over 800 human brain imaging datasets, they found that the somatosensory network has close connections with multiple deep brain nuclei, and these connections are pathologically enhanced in patients’ brains. The dysfunction of this circuit is an important cause of various complex symptoms in patients. It is reported that all current effective clinical treatments for Parkinson’s disease, including deep brain stimulation surgery and oral medication, work by improving this circuit. (Xinhua News Agency)