Parkinson’s disease is a progressive brain disorder that leads to shaking, stiffness, and difficulty with walking, balance, and coordination. It is caused by a loss of nerve cells in part of the brain called the substantia nigra. It’s not known why the loss of nerve cells associated with Parkinson’s disease occurs, although research is ongoing to identify potential causes.
Each person’s degree of neuroticism was assessed when they joined the study.
The scientists found that people who scored in the top quartile of neuroticism had more than an 80 percent greater risk of Parkinson’s, compared to those who scored lower.
“Anxiety and depression are comorbid with Parkinson’s disease,” said Antonio Terracciano, a geriatrics professor who led the study.
“Many people with Parkinson’s tend to be anxious or tend to get depressed. Part of that could be due to the disease and how it alters the brain and can have an influence on emotions. Part could be a psychological reaction to having a diagnosis of the disease.”
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What is neuroticism?
“Neuroticism is the trait disposition to experience negative effects, including anger, anxiety, self‐consciousness, irritability, emotional instability, and depression,” according to an article published in World Psychiatry.
According to the journal article, persons with elevated levels of neuroticism respond poorly to environmental stress, interpret ordinary situations as threatening, and can experience minor frustrations as hopelessly overwhelming.
Other causes of Parkinson’s
It’s believed a combination of genetic changes and environmental factors may be responsible for the condition.
A number of genetic factors have been shown to increase a person’s risk of developing Parkinson’s disease, although exactly how these make some people more susceptible to the condition is unclear.
Other causes
“Parkinsonism” is the umbrella term used to describe the symptoms of tremors, muscle rigidity and slowness of movement.
According to the NHS, Parkinson’s disease is the most common type of parkinsonism, but there are also some rarer types where a specific cause can be identified.
These include parkinsonism caused by:
- Medication (drug-induced parkinsonism) – where symptoms develop after taking certain medications, such as some types of antipsychotic medication, and usually improve once the medication is stopped
- Other progressive brain conditions – such as progressive supranuclear palsy, multiple systems atrophy and corticobasal degeneration
- Cerebrovascular disease – where a series of small strokes cause several parts of the brain to die.