One of the most common drug treatments for Parkinson’s disease does many great things… but only for so long.

Levodopa, also called L-Dopa, wears off and causes approximately two-thirds of those receiving this therapy to suffer from dyskinesia, a disease that causes disabling, abnormal, and involuntary movements that limit adequate long-term control of Parkinson’s disease.

Associate professor of psychology Justin Oh-Lee is studying the complications associated with this treatment in order to provide a more accurate understanding of its associated motor complications. A better understanding will accelerate the ability to develop more effective intervention strategies for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease patients as well as those disabled by other neurological disorders.