What causes Parkinson’s?
Although the cause of Parkinson’s is currently not known, the symptoms of Parkinson’s appear when there is not enough dopamine in the brain. Dopamine is a naturally occurring chemical that allows nerve cells to transmit messages between each other and then to muscles to facilitate normal movement. For people with Parkinson’s, many of these cells, contained in a part of the brain called the substantia nigra, have died — and the remaining cells cannot produce enough dopamine4. What causes the cells to die still remains a mystery.
