A new study from Northwestern Medicine challenges a common belief in what triggers Parkinson’s disease. The study suggests that a dysfunction in the neuron’s synapses — the tiny gap across which a neuron can send an impulse to another neuron — leads to deficits in dopamine and precedes neurodegeneration. This finding opens up a new avenue for therapies, as it suggests that targeting dysfunctional synapses, before the neurons are degenerated, may represent a better therapeutic strategy.