Starburst amacrine cells, involved in visual motion perception, loose their synaptic input from dopaminergic amacrine cells and degenerate in Parkinson's disease patients.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The main clinical symptoms characteristic of Parkinson's disease (PD) are bradykinesia, tremor, and other motor deficits. However, non-motor symptoms, such as visual disturbances, can be identified at early stages of the disease. One of these symptoms is the impairment of visual motion perception. Hence, we sought to determine if the starburst amacrine cells, which are the main cellular type involved in motion direction selectivity, are degenerated in PD and if the dopaminergic system is related to this degeneration.

Methods

Human eyes from control (n = 10) and PD (n = 9) donors were available for this study. Using immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy, we quantified starburst amacrine cell density (choline acetyltransferase [ChAT]-positive cells) and the r

SUBMITTER: Sanchez-Saez X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10071607 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature