Visual Response Test Could Be Biomarker for Early Parkinson’s

New research by biologists at the University of York could lead to improved methods of detection for early-onset Parkinson’s Disease.

Recording the responses of fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) to different visual patterns, using methods adapted from the study of vision in humans, scientists in York’s Department of Biology investigated the nervous systems of flies with different types of Parkinson’s mutations.

By mapping the visual responses of fruit flies with different Parkinson’s genes, the scientists built a substantial data bank of results. Using this they were able to classify unknown flies as having a Parkinson’s related mutation with 85% accuracy.

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