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Updated: Jul 19, 2026

Assessment of Sensorimotor Function in Mouse Models of Parkinson's Disease
Published on: June 17, 2013
Striatal plasticity in parkinsonism: dystrophic changes in medium spiny neurons and progression in Parkinson's
1Department of Psychiatry, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Psychiatric Hospital at Vanderbilt, Nashville, TN 37212, USA. ariel.deutch@vanderbilt.edu
Abstract:
Striatal dopamine loss in Parkinson's Disease (PD) sets into play a variety of compensatory responses to help counter dopamine depletion. Most of these changes involve surviving dopamine neurons, but there are also changes in striatal medium spiny neurons (MSNs), which are the major target of dopamine axons. Among these changes are decreases in MSN dendritic length and spine density, which may dampen excessive corticostriatal glutamatergic drive onto MSNs that occurs secondary to dopamine loss. An increasing knowledge of dendritic changes in PD suggests strategies for tracking progressive worsening of symptoms and is opening new ideas on novel therapeutic strategies for PD.
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