title: The Vulnerable Ventral Tegmental Area in Parkinson's Disease.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The involvement of dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) in Parkinson's disease (PD) has not been universally recognized by neuroscientists and neurologists. Here, we conduct a review of previous research documenting dopaminergic neuronal loss in both the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) and VTA and add three new post-mortem PD cases to the literature.
  
  
  METHODS
  PD and control brains were sectioned, stained for tyrosine hydroxylase, and cells in the SNpc and VTA were counted.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Based on the review, we report two main results: 1) the VTA does degenerate in PD, and 2) the VTA degenerates less than the SNpc.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Inconsistent clinical information about these cases limits our ability to interpret how the VTA contributes to PD symptoms. However, our data in combination with prior PD neuropathological cases in the literature unequivocally establish that the VTA is involved in PD, and could be relevant for future investigation of non-motor symptoms in PD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States.
authors.forename: Stephanie L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Alberico
authors.affiliation: Anatomy and Cell Biology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States.
authors.forename: Martin D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Cassell
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Carver College of Medicine, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, United States.
authors.forename: Nandakumar S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Narayanan
keywords: Parkinson’s disease; Ventral tegmental area