Dutch scientists from the University of Groningen have discovered the cause of hallucinations in Parkinson’s patients. The study was published in the scientific journal magazine Brain.
Parkinson’s disease is a neurological disorder common among older adults. It is often associated with movement disorders, but many people diagnosed also complain of visions of people, animals, and other imaginary images.
In the new study, the team found that hallucinations in Parkinson’s disease are associated with a deficiency in the cholinergic system, which includes the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.
Experts studied 38 people with Parkinson’s disease and 10 healthy individuals. All participants underwent positron emission tomography, which allows visualization of cholinergic activity in the brain.
The volunteers were divided into three groups according to the frequency and intensity of visual hallucinations in the last 30 days.
The study found significant differences in cholinergic activity between patients with Parkinson’s disease and healthy controls, and between patients with and without visual hallucinations.
Patients with Parkinson’s disease showed a significant reduction in cholinergic activity compared with healthy controls. This reduction was most pronounced in the occipital lobe but also extended to the parietal, temporal, and frontal lobes.
Patients experiencing visual hallucinations had significantly lower cholinergic activity in the left precuneus, left lingual gyrus, left fusiform gyrus, left inferior temporal gyrus, left middle and superior temporal gyrus, and left supramarginal gyrus compared to patients without hallucinations.
The results supported the perceptual and attentional deficit model, which proposes that visual hallucinations in Parkinson’s disease result from poor visual perception and impaired attention to objects, exacerbated by cholinergic hypoactivity.
According to scientists, this discovery suggests that hallucinations in Parkinson’s disease may be treated using cholinesterase inhibitors.
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Source: Gazeta
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