Early Changes in the Striatum in a Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease

Abstract

It has been observed that in patients with PO, the introduction or increase in stress levels corresponds with an increased rate of DA loss. The introduction of a stressor as simple as frustration caused by the disease itself, has the ability to cause the patient to have a temporarily reduced capacity to perform simple motor functions that they had performed earlier that day. Relaxation and concentration techniques have been employed by health care workers in order to help treat a patient. Patients have been observed walking almost perfectly while humming "The Hokey Pokey" when moments prior they were having difficulty controlling foot movements. With the identification of neurochemical changes in PO, scientists are able to create a rat model of the disease. A lesion can be created by the application of 6hydroxydopamine (6-0HDA) to the striatal tissue. Trimethylthiazoline (TMT), a predator odor in fox urine, can then be used as a secondary stressor event on the animals In order to study the effects of environmental stress on PD.