Author Spotlight: Exploring Non-Motor Symptoms in Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease is defined by the motor symptoms of bradykinesia, tremor, and rigidity. But many patients with Parkinson's disease suffer from non-motor symptoms, which are harder to treat and cause greater impairment in quality of life. These have not been well studied in animal models of the disease, which limits our abilities to find new therapies for them.

This protocol is simple and inexpensive, but generates reproducible results. It is easy to learn and requires no specialized equipment. With this simple assay, we can assess constipation in flies that have neurodegeneration.

In the future, we hope to develop a model where flies develop constipation before the onset of neurodegeneration. This will allow us to better understand the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease.