Foundmyfitness

Giselle Petzinger, MD, an associate professor of Neurology at the University of Southern California and today’s guest, studies the extensive effects of how different types of exercise, in particular skill-based exercise, can affect the clinical outcome for people with Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Petzinger's work focuses on understanding how to promote brain repair after injury, particularly in the context of Parkinson's disease. She is currently investigating ways to enhance neuroplasticity in a preclinical model of the disease. She has examined the role of exercise in Parkinson's disease, with emphasis on how different types of exercise affect distinct regions of the brain. Her work has implications for improving the quality of life of patients diagnosed with the neurological disorder — a condition for which there is no cure. In this episode, we discuss... 00:06:57 - What is Parkinson’s disease? 00:11:57 - How symptoms of Parkinson’s disease generally only appear when ~50% of dopamine-secreting neurons in subs