DURHAM, N.C., Oct. 28 (UPI) -- Duke University scientists in Durham, N.C., are studying how the brain's internal clock changes in Parkinson's disease patients.
Neuroscientists Catalin Buhusi and Warren Meck are studying how the clock's ticking changes in Parkinson's patients as they change levels of their medication, which effects the amount of dopamine in their brains.
Dopamine has been implicated as a key signaling molecule in the neuronal circuitry of the timing machinery, the researchers say.
"When Parkinson's patients are on their medication, they time quite normally," said Meck. "But as their medication wears off, we can see their clock slow down by recording their brain signals."
The findings are published in the Nature Reviews Neuroscience.
