MJFF to fund more Parkinson's research

The Michael J Fox Foundation (MJFF) for Parkinson's Research is to fund two projects that will look into the placebo effect in the disease.

One of these will be a pilot study designed to initially validate surveys which can predict how placebo response is impacted from person to person by disease and treatment-related variables.

This research will form a part of a clinical trial in dyskinesia announced by the MJFF earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the foundation will also be funding a Columbia University team led by Dr Tor Wager and Dr Daphna Shohamy.

They will use functional magnetic resonance imaging to look at brain activity in Parkinson's patients as they carry out certain motor and learning tasks.

Then they will explore how brain activity changes when the patients are given levodopa, which is considered the gold-standard treatment for Parkinson's disease, against placebo.

The MJFF recently announced $2 million (£1.25 million) for five research teams which are undertaking clinical studies to improve understanding of postural instability and gait disturbances in Parkinson's disease.

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