MSGID: 1:317/3 62735336   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Researchers find link between Parkinson's gene and vocal issues that   
   could lead to earlier diagnosis    
      
     Date:   
         May 4, 2022   
     Source:   
         University of Arizona   
     Summary:   
         Neuroscientists found that higher levels of the alpha-synuclein   
         protein in the brain can lead to changes in vocal production.   
      
      
      
   FULL STORY   
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   Parkinson's disease is perhaps best known for its movement-related   
   symptoms, particularly tremors and stiffness.   
      
      
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   But the disease is also known to hinder vocal production, giving those   
   with Parkinson's a soft monotonous voice. Those symptoms, research has   
   suggested, often appear much earlier in the disease's development --   
   sometimes decades before movement-related symptoms.   
      
   New research by University of Arizona neuroscientists suggests that   
   a specific gene commonly associated with Parkinson's may be behind   
   those vocal-related issues -- a finding that could help lead to earlier   
   diagnoses and treatments for Parkinson's patients.   
      
   The research was conducted in the lab of Julie E. Miller, an assistant   
   professor of neuroscience and of speech, language, and hearing sciences   
   in the College of Science.   
      
   "We have this big gap here -- we don't know how this disease impacts the   
   brain regions for vocal production, and this is really an opportunity   
   to intervene early and come up with better treatments," said Miller,   
   who also has joint appointments in the Department of Neurology and the   
   Graduate Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience, and is a member of   
   the UArizona BIO5 Institute.   
      
   The study was published Wednesday in the scientific journal PLOS   
   ONE. Ce'sar A.   
      
   Medina, a former Ph.D. student in Miller's lab who is now a postdoctoral   
   scholar at Johns Hopkins University, is the paper's lead author. Also   
   involved in the research were Eddie Vargas, a former UArizona   
   undergraduate student who will soon attend the College of Medicine --   
   Tucson, and Stephanie Munger, a research professional in the Department   
   of Neuroscience.   
      
      
      
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   A unique, ideal model for studying human speech To investigate any   
   correlation between vocal changes and the Parkinson's- related gene --   
   known as alpha-synuclein -- the researchers turned to the zebra finch,   
   a songbird native to Australia.   
      
   The birds are an ideal model for human speech and voice pathways for   
   several reasons, Medina said. Young finches learn their songs from older,   
   father-like male birds, much in the same way babies learn to speak by   
   listening to their parents. The part of a finch's brain that deals with   
   speech and language is also organized very similarly to its counterpart   
   in the human brain.   
      
   "These similarities across behavior, anatomy and genetics allow us to   
   use the zebra finches as a model for human speech and voice," Medina said.   
      
   To see how alpha-synuclein might affect vocal production in the birds,   
   researchers first took baseline recordings of their songs. They then   
   introduced a copy of the gene into some of the birds; other birds were   
   not given the gene so researchers could compare the results. All the   
   birds' songs were recorded again immediately after introducing the gene,   
   and then one, two and three months later.   
      
      
      
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   The researchers used computer software to analyze and compare the   
   acoustic features of the songs over time, studying pitch, amplitude   
   and duration of the songs to determine whether and when the birds'   
   vocal production changed.   
      
   Initial findings showed that alpha-synuclein did affect song   
   production. The birds with the gene sang less after two months, and they   
   sang less at the start of a song session three months after receiving the   
   gene. The vocalizations were also softer and shorter, findings similar   
   to what is seen in the human disease.   
      
   Another step toward earlier diagnoses and treatments To determine   
   whether the effects on speech were connected to changes in the brain,   
   the researchers zeroed in on a section of the brain called Area X. They   
   found that there were higher levels of the alpha-synuclein protein in   
   Area X, helping them establish that the gene did, in fact, cause the   
   changes in the brain that led to changes in vocal production, Medina said.   
      
   This connection, he added, had been predicted in previous Parkinson's   
   research, but it was not conclusive.   
      
   The next step, Miller said, is figuring out how to apply these findings   
   to human data, which could provide more answers that lead to better   
   Parkinson's diagnoses and treatments -- ones that come long before   
   movement-related symptoms tell a patient to visit a neurologist.   
      
   The long-term goal of the Miller Lab, she said, is to partner with   
   other researchers and private companies to develop drugs that target   
   alpha-synuclein and other genes associated with Parkinson's.   
      
   Doing so, Medina said, would mean "we could stop the progression of   
   Parkinson's disease before it becomes a detrimental impediment to the   
   quality of life for the patient."   
      
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   Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Arizona. Original   
   written by Kyle Mittan.   
      
   Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Cesar A. Medina, Eddie Vargas, Stephanie J. Munger, Julie E. Miller.   
      
         Vocal changes in a zebra finch model of Parkinson's disease   
         characterized by alpha-synuclein overexpression in the   
         song-dedicated anterior forebrain pathway. PLOS ONE, 2022; 17 (5):   
         e0265604 DOI: 10.1371/ journal.pone.0265604   
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   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220504144523.htm   
      
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