Neural Regeneration Research ›› 2024, Vol. 19 ›› Issue (6): 1193-1194.doi: 10.4103/1673-5374.385860

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Hippocampal dopamine as a key regulator for learning deficits in Parkinson’s disease

Kun Wu, Shuai Liu*   

  1. Shanghai Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics (Ministry of Education), Affiliated Mental Health Center (ECNU), School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China (Wu K, Liu S)
    Shanghai Changning Mental Health Center, Shanghai, China (Liu S)
    NYU-ECNU Institute of Brain and Cognitive Science at NYU Shanghai, Shanghai, China (Liu S)
  • Online:2024-06-15 Published:2023-11-17
  • Contact: Shuai Liu, PhD, sliu@psy.ecnu.edu.cn.
  • Supported by:
    This work was supported by the STI 2030 - Major Projects, No. 2021ZD0200500 and the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai, No. 21ZR1419700 (both to SL).

Abstract: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder with clinical symptoms of involuntary or uncontrollable movements such as tremors, rigidity, and incoordination. The learning deficit is largely overlooked in the past because it is generally less impaired in the early stages of PD than in Alzheimer’s disease. However, recent studies have shown a significant decline in learning in PD. In addition to a lower learning rate, PD patients require substantially more brain activity and neural networks during the learning task, indicating a reduced learning efficiency. Furthermore, memory deficits are also common in PD even without the presence of overt dementia (Aarsland et al., 2021). Given the increasing prevalence of PD worldwide and the fact that symptoms typically start out mild and get worse over time, research into the mechanism of learning deficits in PD is of great importance.