The Dopamine Debate

The Dopamine Debate

From Movers and Shakers: a podcast about life with Parkinson's by Podot

February 28, 2026 · 34 min · Season 7 · Episode 7

About this episode

This episode features a debate on the controversial idea that Parkinson's disease may be caused by too much dopamine, challenging existing assumptions about the condition.

This week we're doing something a little bit different on Movers & Shakers. We're joined in the pub by Dr Jonathan Sackner-Bernstein, a distinguised American cardiologist with a controversial idea: that Parkinson's might be caused by too much, rather than too little, dopamine. Sackner-Bernstein's ideas call into question the underlying assumptions of the condition and have been refuted by many of his colleagues. But the debate is worth having – not least as the opposition is eloquently represented by Dr Kit Wu – because it shows just how much we still don't understand about PD, dopamine, and the human brain. Movers & Shakers is brought to you in partnership with Cure Parkinson's . Presented by Rory Cellan-Jones, Gillian Lacey-Solymar, Mark Mardell, Paul Mayhew-Archer, Sir Nicholas Mostyn and Jeremy Paxman. Produced and edited by Nick Hilton for Podot. Sound mixing by Ewan Cameron. Music by Alex Stobbs. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Hosts: Rory Cellan-Jones, Gillian Lacey-Solymar, Mark Mardell, Paul Mayhew-Archer, Sir Nicholas Mostyn, Jeremy Paxman

Guest: Dr Jonathan Sackner-Bernstein

Topics covered

  • Parkinson's disease
  • dopamine
  • medical debate
  • neurology
  • cardiology

Keywords

  • Parkinson's
  • dopamine
  • Dr Jonathan Sackner-Bernstein
  • Dr Kit Wu
  • medical debate
  • neurology
  • cardiology

Sponsors

Cure Parkinson's

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Podot

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