Research

Graduate student Paul Cocker, at the University of British Columbia, is exploring the potential of blocking dopamine D4 receptors to reduce compulsive behaviors like gambling, shopping, and hypersexuality, which affect some people with Parkinson’s disease as a side effect of dopamine-replacement drugs. Using a rodent model, Cocker aims to determine if inhibiting these receptors can alleviate such behaviors, without affecting the medication’s ability to treat motor symptoms.

Alex MacKay at the University of British Columbia is investigating the role of myelin (white matter) in Parkinson’s disease using MRI technology. Myelin helps speed up communication between brain cells, and its loss may contribute to cognitive issues in Parkinson’s patients, sometimes before motor symptoms appear. MacKay’s team is testing whether myelin breakdown in the brain, particularly in the frontal lobe, is linked to cognitive problems.