Capturing a child's curiosity

As any parent knows too well, children want to know why. After observing something new, they want to know why it is or is not as they see it. And the conversation rarely is satisfied by the answer to the first "why."

If you watch for this dialog between a parent and a child, you'll undoubtedly see the conversation reach a point of frustration for the adult. They will try to end the dialog - more often with "because" than with a response that satisfies the curious child or even with something akin to "that's a great question we need to pursue when we get home" (or using age-appropriate and encouraging language).

Many write about the loss of curiosity as we age. I'm not convinced we understand if, when or why curiosity starts to wither. But there are stories many of us recall that could and should inspire us to embrace our curious nature. Who doesn't know Curious George? His specific adventures are not the important lesson, but rather, his curiosity.

Channeling George's curiosity is the key to advancing knowledge, improving public health and specifically, conquering Parkinson's. And that is the simplest way to describe my adventures since late 2017 (when my buddy Ivan pushed me to figure out how to help him as he dwindled with PD).

The result of my curiosity? I learned that the scientific and clinical communities are willing to accept the teaching proposed back in the 1960s as truth. I learned that many of the scientific and clinical experts were not willing to engage in a conversation about an alternate hypothesis for what drives the disease because the hypothesis meant that they were looking at and treating the disease backwards their entire career. Human nature means this is not a welcome message!

I learned that the disease has not been examined from the perspective of what the key brain cells experience in Parkinson's. When looking at the disease from the cell's point of view, I discovered that the amount of dopamine inside the cells is markedly elevated - important because the cells will try to metabolize this excess dopamine and in doing, produce toxic breakdown chemicals.

And then I discovered a drug (which we call RB-190) that reduces dopamine and that was tested in a wide range of laboratory models of disease. The data show that lowering dopamine reverses the pathology of the disease.

When looking at the situation with curiosity (and perhaps a bit of naiveté) discoveries are possible. And once we launch our clinical trials, we'll be on the way to generating the data that will prove or disprove our theory that dopamine reduction therapy can conquer Parkinson's.

Even if our theory is wrong, we'll prove once again that curiosity is what gives us the chance to discover the opportunities to impact disease. Curiosity must be nurtured, pursued and embraced; otherwise, we lose.