News Neuroscience

A brain at rest offers clues to Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s

PET scans pick up clear signs of breakdown in neurological networks

PET brain scans

NETWORKING  Brain scans reveal the part of the brain that’s active (red shows most activity; blue shows least) when people are not thinking about anything in particular. In healthy people (top row), these coordinated areas of the brain are called the default mode network. But in people with mild to moderate Parkinson’s disease (bottom row), a new, abnormal network takes over.

P. Spetsieris et al/ PNAS 2015, adapted by S. Egts

By Tina Hesman Saey

- More than 2 years ago

Networks of brain regions that are active when the brain is at rest — not thinking about anything in particular — differ between healthy people and those with Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s diseases, a new study finds.