Many movement disorders are familial and have an underlying genetic basis.
These can be studied using recent advances in molecular genetics. Finding the genes involved will give us clues about the actual causes of movement disorders, like Parkinson's disease, and will help us understand the forms of these diseases that aren't inherited. These are some frequently asked questions about our work. Much is published about Dopamine and Parkinson's disease. If a person with a family history of parkinsonism, or a related disorder, wanted to help our efforts to find the cause of this disease, he or she could be included in our study.