Research Project
Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Repeated MPTP-treated monkeys were examined relationship between motor or cognitive function and dopaminergic function by PET. Motor activity was significantly correlated with dopamine transporter binding specifically in the ventrolateral putamen, which corresponds to the area receiving motor inputs from the primary motor cortex. These results suggested that specific functional deficits in PD models were caused by degeneration of dopaminergic terminals in the striatal subregion responsible for that function in a manner dependent on the degree of degeneration.
