Then he does not perceive he is falling, does not right himself, and hits the floor. Postural instability results from impaired righting reflexes reflexes that allow us to respond to or compensate for change. The location of these reflexes is unknown, and while bradykinesia, tremor and rigidity do improve with medication or surgery, righting reflexes do not. It is unknown if this results from a genetic factor, a shared environmental toxin, or both. In several of these families, a PD gene has been found.
Genes are bits of information encoded on a stretch of DNA of a chromosome.
Each gene codes for a protein - the body's building blocks. Identifying the gene and locating it on a chromosome are now relatively easy. The ceruleus is in the pons, the region between the midbrain and the spinal cord. The nigral nerve cells contain dopamine, which acts as a neurotransmitter carrying messages from nigral nerve cells to other nerve cells. The cerulean nerve cells contain noradrenalin or norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter carrying messages from cerulean nerve cells to other nerve cells.