Portal:The Science Behind Parkinson's/Intro

The Science Behind Parkinson's

For an overview of the whole project see the Site Map

This is a A Wikiversity learning project for people who are interested in the science underlying Parkinson's disease.

Do you have Parkinson's? Care for someone who has Parkinson's? Just curious to know more?

Through this learning project you can, with others:

• explore the prospects offered by Parkinson's research
• delve into the basic and applied Science behind Parkinson's focused on finding better treatments and a cure.

Progress and Prospects in Parkinson's Research the core section for following research into Parkinson's and thinking about: what questions remain unanswered, what issues need to be resolved and what implications arise from research results. Read more ... (Click to show) Progress and Prospects in Parkinson's Research This section is for those who are interested in following research into Parkinson's and thinking about what questions remain unanswered, what issues need to be resolved and what implications arise from research results. You can browse through it and read some very interesting stuff. But if you are interested in contributing, you can write accounts, especially of newly published research, explain issues and stimulate discussion. All contributors are expected to provide references to back up what they say. Wikiversity, like any university, has a research facilitation function with projects which actually conduct research. (See the Research Portal.) This embryonic Parkinson's research learning project, however, is a variation of this and is aimed rather at 'researching research'. The aim is to ferret out and present results through written items that explain, discuss and share research findings. Wikiversity is an appropriate platform because this concept fits somewhere in between teaching & learning on one hand and of doing research on the other. The six-fold purpose of Section 1 ... Progress and Prospects in Parkinson's Research The purpose of the material in section 1 is to : highlight interesting topics in current Parkinson's research explain their significance and background describe the questions answered and identify the questions still unanswered say how the work fits into the bigger picture and what other researchers are doing examine hypotheses and to raise implications identify possible new lines of enquiry and new implications for research strategy The structure of articles should be designed to achieve these purposes. The style of the articles should make them accessible to readers who have a moderate level of scientific or biological understanding but who are not experts in the field. Technical terms should be explained in the text or hyperlinked to explanatory material such as in wikipedia or elsewhere. Go to Section 1: Progress and Prospects in Parkinson's Research Go to Progress and Prospects in Parkinson's Research Go straight to Progress and Prospects in Parkinson's Research Included is a Magazine Section of topical articles. Read more ... (Click to show) There is also a Magazine Section which is mainly related to section 1. It has articles to enable readers to get an overview of the current 'Hot Topics' in Parkinson's research and to read discussions of key issues. These articles link to the main body of the learning project. Go to Magazine Section Go straight to the Magazine Section

An Introduction to the Science Behind Parkinson's A structured learning section where the science behind Parkinson's is explained for those who are new to the subject. Read more ... (Click to show) An Introduction to the Science Behind Parkinson's This section is now being developed and, as its title implies, will be a structured learning section where the science behind Parkinson's is explained for those who are new to the subject. The purpose will be to help people get to grips with the basic biology that is relevant for understanding the pathology of Parkinson's and for following the research being done in this field. Biological terms will be explained and references given to where more details can be found. It is expected that wikipedia will be a useful reference source. Go to Section 2: an Introduction to the Science Behind Parkinson's Go straight to An Introduction to the Science Behind Parkinson's

Who is the wiki for & for what purpose?

Who is the wiki for and for what purpose? Simply for whoever finds it useful. Especially for people affected by Parkinson's: as a way of learning more about the condition as a satisfying, therapeutic outlet for those who can translate complex scientific concepts into straightforward language More ... For those wanting to find out as much as they can about progress in current research as a way of sharing what what they have discovered. More ... For professional scientists and clinicians: as an alternative communication channel to a receptive audience as an invitation to help correct misunderstandings and inaccuracies and collaborate with lay people to write high quality material as an invitation to write original articles about, say, implications of new research results, and as an opportunity to interact with informed, thoughtful and perceptive people affected and living with Parkinson's. More ...

Can You Help?
Can you write about science in straightforward and understandable terms? Think about becoming a contributor to this learning project! Here are some things you can do.

Things you can do
Contributing to the Science Behind Parkinson's learning project Anyone may contribute material to this learning project. Please create a Wikiversity account first. Go here for Specific Things You Can Do. Please go to the Project Development subpage to work with us on how the project should develop. Please access the project's discussion page to comment on the concepts behind this project.

Help with getting started

Get help with editing here We are developing a User Guide here Improve your technical writing skills and techniques here. Occasionally you may want to upload an image or a file. An uploaded file must not be subject to copyright. Help with uploading files is given here. A text file has to be in .pdf format and is actually stored in the Image section of wikiversity. A useful glossary of terms relating to Parkinson's is the We Move one: http://www.wemove.org/glossary/ Note that contributors are expected to provide references to back up what they say.

Did you attend the World Parkinson Congress in Montreal, 1st-4th October 2013? Whether you did or not, a good number of the presentations were video recorded and you can view them at: http://www.icastpro.ca/events/wpc/2013/10/01/3rd-world-parkinson-congress-gateway The next WPC will be in Portland, Oregon, USA, 20 to 23 September 2016.

Quick Links:
Section 1: Progress and Prospects in Parkinson's Research Magazine Section Section 2: Introduction to Parkinson's Science

This is a globally open and participatory learning project.

Medical professionals, researchers, staff from Parkinson's support organisations and others should find much in this project to interest them.

(See Project Development discussion page)