Metabolism in the Brain

In the early 1980s, a group of seven patients with puzzling symptoms appeared in northern California,. All were relatively young (ranging from age 26 to 42) and all had very quickly developed a severe inability to move most, if not all, of their body. Apart from that, they had very little in common. Some were initially thought to have a psychiatric disorder, such as catatonic schizophrenia, which also affects the ability to move. However, upon examination, their limbs had the type of rigidity that is characteristic of Parkinson’s disease, and not present in schizophrenia. What did not fit well within the diagnosis of Parkinson’s was the young age of these patients and the fact that the rigidity had come upon them very quickly. A typical Parkinson’s disease patient is older and has gradual onset of symptoms.