MDS Podcast

In this episode, we speak with Zixiao Yin, recipient of a Junior Award at the MDS Congress, about his work on reconstructing deep brain activity from cortical signals.

Using more than 700 hours of simultaneous cortical and subcortical recordings across different movement disorders, brain targets, and clinical states, Yin and colleagues developed deep learning approaches to infer subcortical activity from cortical recordings. We discuss why this could matter for adaptive DBS, how cortical signals can be used to estimate STN beta activity and reconstruct deep brain signals, and whether this approach could provide an alternative when direct subcortical sensing is unreliable.

Dr. Sara Schaefer speaks with 2026 MDS Congress Stanley Fahn Award Lecture winner Dr. Beomseok Jeon about his career and the inspiration he drew from his time as a movement disorders fellow under Dr. Stanley Fahn.

Dr. Divyani Garg speaks with Dr. Hubert H. Fernandez about tavapadon, a once-daily selective dopamine D1/D5 receptor agonist, and what the TEMPO clinical development program tells us about its potential role in Parkinson’s disease (PD). They discuss the rationale for D1/D5 stimulation, findings from other TEMPO programs, the magnitude and clinical meaning of the motor benefit, flexible dosing, and the important tolerability and discontinuation findings from TEMPO-2. The conversation also explores where tavapadon might fit relative to levodopa and conventional D2/D3 dopamine agonists, and its potential role across different stages of PD.

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Prof. Jeffrey Kordower and Prof. Franziska Richter Assêncio join Prof. Tiago Outeiro to discuss the historical use of animal models in the field of Parkinson's disease. Together they review ethical issues, the value of different types of models, and their relevance to the field.

In this new episode of the Hot Topic 'Prodromal synucleinopathies' Dr. Eva Schäffer joins Dr. Eduardo de Pablo Fernández to discuss recent advances, future challenges, and practical clinical advice in prodromal Parkinson's disease.