The fossilist and his engraver: Samuel Springsguth’s illustrations of James Parkinson’s Organic Remains

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cherry Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Scientific Content ◽  
Paralysis Agitans ◽  
Political Activist ◽  
Long Eighteenth Century ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Organic Remains ◽  
The Way

ABSTRACT James Parkinson was an apothecary surgeon, political activist, and paleontologist during the latter part of the long eighteenth century. He is most famous for his 1817 work, An Essay on the Shaking Palsy, in which he was the first to describe and define the symptoms of paralysis agitans, a condition now known as Parkinson’s disease. During his lifetime, however, he was internationally renowned for his three-volume study of fossils, Organic Remains of a Former World. Sales of this work continued for 25 years after Parkinson’s death, even though much of its scientific content had become redundant. This was due to the beauty and fidelity of its illustrations, although Samuel Springsguth, the illustrator and engraver, is never explicitly acknowledged in the work. By examining several extant fossils known to have been in Parkinson’s collection and illustrated in his works, it has been possible to gain some insight into the way that Parkinson and Springsguth worked together when illustrating these volumes.

The production of urban histories in eighteenth-century England

Urban History ◽  
1996 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemary Sweet
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Urban Society ◽  
Factual Information ◽  
Urban Renaissance ◽  
Long Eighteenth Century ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
The Way

Much of our knowledge concerning the ‘urban renaissance’ in eighteenth-century provincial towns comes from a reading of contemporary urban histories. Too often they are referred to purely for their factual information, and insufficient consideration is given to their relationship to the society for which they were written. This article examines in detail the series of histories written in Newcastle over the long eighteenth century. Although the content of these histories can appear formulaic, with considerable borrowings of material, there are significant differences. These reflect the different agenda which the respective authors were addressing and the changing composition of the readership. Urban histories can provide an invaluable insight into the dynamics of urban society and the way in which contemporaries perceived and presented it.

scholarly journals Interactions of COMT and ALDH2 Genetic Polymorphisms on Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 361
Author(s):  
Rwei-Ling Yu ◽  
Shao-Ching Tu ◽  
Ruey-Meei Wu ◽  
Pei-An Lu ◽  
Chun-Hsiang Tan
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
Personal Hygiene ◽  
Nucleotide Polymorphisms ◽  
Monoamine Neurotransmitters ◽  
Single Nucleotide ◽  
Detrimental Impact ◽  
Reduced Activity ◽  
Insight Into

(1) Background: Monoamine neurotransmitters play essential roles in the normal functioning of our nervous system. However, the metabolism of monoamine neurotransmitters is accompanied by the production of neurotoxic metabolites, and inefficient removal of the metabolites has been suggested to cause neurodegeneration. (2) Methods: To examine the effect of reduced activity of catechol-O-methyltransferase (COMT) and aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) conferred by single nucleotide polymorphisms COMT rs4680(A) and ALDH2 rs671(A) on the symptoms of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), a total of 114 PD patients were recruited cross-sectionally and received genotyping for rs4680 and rs671 along with MDS-UPDRS evaluation. (3) Results: We found that patients carrying rs4680(A) had more severe bradykinesia in the upper extremity and rest tremor. Besides, patients carrying rs671(A) had more difficulty maintaining personal hygiene, while patients with genotype rs671(GG) had higher scores in the item “depressed mood.” More importantly, we found the effect of rs4680 to be moderated by rs671 SNP for the symptom of “hand movements.” The detrimental impact of rs4680(A) is more pronounced in the presence of genotype rs671(GG). (4) Conclusions: This study facilitates a deeper understanding of the detrimental effect of reduced activity of COMT and ALDH2 conferred by genetic variation and provides novel insight into the interactions between enzymes metabolizing monoamine neurotransmitters in the pathogenesis of PD.

scholarly journals A selective effect of dopamine on information-seeking

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Vellani ◽  
Lianne P de Vries ◽  
Anne Gaule ◽  
Tali Sharot
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Selective Effect ◽  
Reward Seeking ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Insight Into ◽  
Primary Reward

Humans are motivated to seek information from their environment. How the brain motivates this behavior is unknown. One speculation is that the brain employs neuromodulatory systems implicated in primary reward-seeking, in particular dopamine, to instruct information-seeking. However, there has been no causal test for the role of dopamine in information-seeking. Here, we show that administration of a drug that enhances dopamine function (dihydroxy-L-phenylalanine; L-DOPA) reduces the impact of valence on information-seeking. Specifically, while participants under Placebo sought more information about potential gains than losses, under L-DOPA this difference was not observed. The results provide new insight into the neurobiology of information-seeking and generates the prediction that abnormal dopaminergic function (such as in Parkinson’s disease) will result in valence-dependent changes to information-seeking.

scholarly journals Pilot Study of Mindfulness Training on the Self-Awareness of Motor Symptoms in Parkinson’s Disease – A Randomized Controlled Trial

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timo Marcel Buchwitz ◽  
Franziska Maier ◽  
Andrea Greuel ◽  
Franziska Thieken ◽  
Kenan Steidel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Motor Symptoms ◽  
Self Awareness ◽  
Disease Symptoms ◽  
Waitlist Control ◽  
Sleeping Problems ◽  
Waitlist Control Group ◽  
Insight Into

Objective: This study aims to evaluate feasibility and effects of a newly developed mindfulness intervention tailored to specific needs of patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD).Background: The phenomenon of impaired self-awareness of motor symptoms (ISAm) in PD might be reduced by increasing patients’ mindfulness. A PD-specific mindfulness intervention has been developed and evaluated as a potential treatment option: IPSUM (“Insight into Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms by using Mindfulness”).Methods: IPSUM’s effectiveness is evaluated by comparing an intervention with a waitlist-control group. Applying a pre-post design, patients were assessed before, directly after and 8weeks after treatment. The primary outcome was the change in a quantitative ISAm score from baseline to post-assessment. Secondary outcome measures were PD-related affective changes and neuropsychological test performance. Feasibility was evaluated via feedback forms.Results: In total, 30 non-depressed and non-demented PD patients were included (intervention: n=14, waitlist-control: n=16). ISAm score did not change significantly, but the training group showed greater performance in sustained attention and language tasks over time. Additional changes included greater mindfulness as well as less sleeping problems and anxiety. Cognitive disturbances, apathy, and sleeping problems worsened only in the waitlist-control group. Patients’ feedback regarding the training concept and material was excellent.Conclusion: Insight into Parkinson’s Disease Symptoms by using Mindfulness has not been capable of reducing ISAm in PD patients but appears to be a feasible and effective concept to, among others, support mental health in the mid-term. It has to be noted though that the study was stopped beforehand because of the SARS CoV-2 pandemic. The lack of findings might therefore be caused by a lack of statistical power. The need for further research to better understand the mechanisms of ISAm and its connection to mindfulness in PD is highlighted.

scholarly journals Historical and cross-cultural perspectives on Parkinson’s disease

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lee Xenakis Blonder
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Neurodegenerative Disorder ◽  
Ancient Greek ◽  
Genetic Studies ◽  
Cultural Perspectives ◽  
Paralysis Agitans ◽  
Ancient Times ◽  
Jean Martin Charcot ◽  
British Physician

Abstract Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder, affecting up to 10 million people worldwide according to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. Epidemiological and genetic studies show a preponderance of idiopathic cases and a subset linked to genetic polymorphisms of a familial nature. Traditional Chinese medicine and Ayurveda recognized and treated the illness that Western Medicine terms PD millennia ago, and descriptions of Parkinson’s symptomatology by Europeans date back 2000 years to the ancient Greek physician Galen. However, the Western nosological classification now referred to in English as “Parkinson’s disease” and the description of symptoms that define it, are accredited to British physician James Parkinson, who in 1817 authored The Shaking Palsy. Later in the nineteenth century, French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot re-labeled paralysis agitans “Parkinson’s disease” and over a century of scientific research ensued. This review discusses European, North American, and Asian contributions to the understanding and treatment of PD from ancient times through the twentieth century.

Favorite Activity Interview as a Window into the Identity of People with Parkinson's Disease

2006 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 56-68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily J. DeGroat ◽  
Kathleen Doyle Lyons ◽  
Linda Tickle-Degnen
Keyword(s):  
Parkinson’S Disease ◽  
Parkinson's Disease ◽  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Personal Identity ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Verbal Communication ◽  
Activity Participation ◽  
Verbal Content ◽  
Identity Expression ◽  
Insight Into

The purpose of this study was to document the degree to which a brief segment of an occupational therapy interview about favorite activities served as a window into personal identity and experience in clients with Parkinson's disease. Two-minute segments of videotaped interviews of 12 participants with Parkinson's disease were transcribed and analyzed. A verbal content measure was developed, its reliability tested, and its items correlated with participants' self-rated personality and mood. Overall, the inter-rater reliability for this verbal content measure was acceptably high, and many expected associations between participant verbal content and participant identity as related to personality and mood were found. The results tentatively suggest that the client's discussion of favorite activity participation, as well as the tone and frequency of the client's verbal communication, can provide insight into the identity of the client, and this information is available to the practitioner even for clients who have difficulty expressing their identities nonverbally. This exploratory study establishes a foundation for further research in the area of identity expression through verbal content in individuals with diminished nonverbal expressiveness.

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