28.10.2013 - G. Fisone, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm

Gilberto Fisone
Karolinska Institute, Stockholm
Gilberto Fisone (born in Vercelli, Italy) has been professor of Neuroscience at the Department of Neuroscience of the Karolinska Institute of Stockholm since 2006. PhD in Neurochemistry at Karolinska, postdoc at the Rockefeller University, New York (Greengard's lab).
Photo: Stefan Zimmerman

Motor and cognitive dysfunctions in Parkinson's disease: modelling and mechanisms
Parkinson's disease (PD) has been, until recently, mainly defined by the presence of characteristic motor symptoms, such as rigidity, tremor, bradykinesia/akinesia, and postural instability. Accordingly, pharmacological and surgical treatments have so far addressed these motor disturbances, leaving nonmotor, cognitive deficits an unmet clinical condition.
Unfortunately, deterioration of the executive functions, such as attention, recognition, working memory, and problem solving, often appear in an early, premotor phase of the disease and progressively increase in intensity, negatively affecting the quality of life of ?50%-60% of PD patients.
karolinska instAt present, the cellular mechanisms underlying cognitive impairments in PD patients are largely unknown and an adequate treatment is still missing. The preclinical research has recently developed new animal models that may open new perspectives for a more integrated approach to the treatment of both motor and cognitive symptoms of the disease.

Fisone and coworkers have identified abnormalities in signal transduction affecting distinct neuronal populations and underlying the severe motor complications, or dyskinesia, caused by prolonged administration of L-DOPA to parkinsonian patients.
More recently, they investigated the mechanisms at the basis of non-motor symptoms of PD, which include cognitive impairment and neuropsychiatric conditions, such as depression and anxiety.
Photo: Camilla Svensk

Ospite: Alessandro Vercelli

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