Robert Heuermann, MD, PhD 

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Investigator Bio:

Dr. Heuermann is an Instructor of Neurology in the Movement Disorders section at Washington University School of Medicine. He grew up in St. Louis and attended WashU as an undergraduate, then completed his MD/PhD at Northwestern University. He returned to WashU for Neurology residency training and Movement Disorders fellowship. He was especially drawn to caring for persons with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and other movement disorders — particularly how individualized each visit is, working together with patients to find the treatment plan that works best for them. 
 
His research focuses on pain as a nonmotor symptom in PD, which is a major burden for some patients. He uses mouse models and human tissue samples to explore how dopamine influences pain pathways in the brain. Through this research, he hopes to better understand why some people with PD develop chronic pain and ultimately find more effective treatments. 

Objectives/Background:

Many people with PD experience chronic pain, but this is not always recognized or adequately treated. Research on both humans and animals suggests that this pain may be due to an overactive pain response in the brain, but scientists don’t fully understand why this happens. Our research focuses on a particular area of the brain that is important for responding to pain signals, called the amygdala. We think that dopamine released in the amygdala normally helps control pain. When dopamine levels drop, as they do in PD, it may lead to increased pain sensitivity. 

Methods/Design:

To test this idea, we will study mice using advanced techniques to track dopamine pathways in the amygdala, control brain activity with light, and measure electrical signals in brain cells. Although mice have much smaller and less complex brains than humans, they still have many of the same structures and pathways including the amygdala. As such, these types of studies with mice are a great starting point to understanding the human brain. Next, we will use samples from deceased PD patients who volunteered to donate their brains. We will look at changes in the amygdala under a microscope and compare this to the pain they experienced while alive. 

Relevance to Diagnosis/Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease:

The results of this research will help us understand why people with PD feel more pain, which is the first step towards finding more effective treatments.