Ideas change everything

A mathematical model for predicting Parkinson's

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Eleftheria Pissadaki |

TED@IBM

• December 2017

What if we looked at Parkinson's as an neurological electrical problem? Brain researcher Eleftheria Pissadaki and her team study dopamine neurons, the neurons that selectively die during Parkinson's. They discovered that the bigger a neuron is, the more vulnerable it becomes because it simply requires more energy. This new insight is reframing the disease -- and by "finding the fuse box for each neuron" and figuring out how much energy it needs, may help us neuroprotect our brain cells.

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Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

What if we looked at Parkinson's as an neurological electrical problem? Brain researcher Eleftheria Pissadaki and her team study dopamine neurons, the neurons that selectively die during Parkinson's. They discovered that the bigger a neuron is, the more vulnerable it becomes because it simply requires more energy. This new insight is reframing the disease -- and by "finding the fuse box for each neuron" and figuring out how much energy it needs, may help us neuroprotect our brain cells.

Want to use TED Talks in your organization?

About the speaker

Eleftheria Pissadaki

Brain disruptor

Eleftheria Pissadaiki, PhD, has a long-term interest in brain diseases, neurodegeneration and particularly in the etiopathology of Parkinson’s disease. In joining the high impact research and human studies team at IBM, Eleftheria contributes her neuroscientist research on projects related to human care, Parkinson’s disease and the detection of motor signatures that foreshadow daily fluctuations of the disease’s symptoms.

About TED Institute

Every year, TED works with a group of select companies and foundations to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk development to sharpen and fine tune ideas. The culmination is an event produced, recorded, and hosted by TED, generating a growing library of valuable TED Talks that can spur innovation and transform organizations.

Read more about the TED Institute