NEURONAL VULNERABILITY IN PARKINSONS-DISEASE

Although Parkinson's disease is characterized by a loss of dopaminergi c neurons in the substantia nigra not all dopaminergic neurons degener ate in this disease. This suggests that some specific factors make sub populations of dopaminergic neurons more susceptible to the disease. H ere, we show that the most vulnerable neurons are particularly sensiti ve to oxidative stress and rise in intracellular calcium concentration s. Because both events seem to occur in Parkinson's disease this may e xplain why some dopaminergic neurons degenerate and other do not.