BiotechMashup

(Queen's University) Researchers at Queen's University have found that people with Parkinson's disease can perform automated tasks better than people without the disease, but have significant difficulty switching from easy to hard tasks.

by Janneke Koerts, Marije Van Beilen, Oliver Tucha, Klaus L. Leenders, Wiebo H. Brouwer

Scientists have pinpointed a reason older adults have a harder time multitasking than younger adults: they have more difficulty switching between tasks at the level of brain networks.

People with Parkinson's disease suffer social difficulties simply because of the way they talk, researchers have discovered. Many people develop negative impressions about individuals with Parkinson's disease, based solely on how they communicate.

Those who value excellence and hard work generally do better than others on specific tasks when they are reminded of those values. But when a task is presented as fun, researchers report, the same individuals often will do worse than those who are less motivated to achieve.

by Jorge Leite, Sandra Carvalho, Felipe Fregni, Óscar F. Gonçalves

Scientists are beginning to find out why people with Parkinson's disease often feel socially awkward. Parkinson's patients find it harder to recognize expressions of emotion in other people's faces and voices, report two new studies.

One in every 100 elderly people suffers from Parkinson’s disease, a disease of the nervous system with symptoms including stiffness and shaking. The standard medication used to treat Parkinson’s is Levodopa, a drug that initially has major benefits but can later also produce serious side effects in the form of involuntary, jerky movements. A research group has now found a way to study what it is in the brain that causes these side effects.

(University of California - San Francisco) Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco have pinpointed a reason older adults have a harder time multitasking than younger adults: they have more difficulty switching between tasks at the level of brain networks.