Michael Okun (@MichaelOkun) / X

Michael Okun

19.1K posts

Michael Okun

@MichaelOkun

Author, The Parkinson’s Plan, a NY Times Bestseller and 14 other books, Medical Advisor Parkinson’s Foundation, Distinguished Professor UF Fixel Institute

Gainesville, FL

parkinson.org/about-us/leade…

Born July 5

Joined July 2013

Pinned
Michael Okun
@MichaelOkun
Aug 28, 2025
The Parkinson’s Plan is now a New York Times Bestseller. As exciting as this news is, we are calling on you to join the movement. Every copy sold benefits Parkinson's. It is time. Just as the world rallied around polio, HIV and breast cancer, the moment has arrived for
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Michael Okun
@MichaelOkun
Oct 5, 2023
A person with Parkinson's disease can't walk because of severe freezing but put him on a bike and he is fine. Great case by Snijders and @basbloem Love the explanation: 'This striking kinesia paradoxica may be explained by the bicycle's rotating pedals, which may act as an
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Michael Okun
@MichaelOkun
Sep 29, 2024
There will be a 150% increase in Parkinson after COVID like we saw in 1918 flu says expert researcher Richard Smeyne #mdscongress today. If he is right, we better prepare for this growth and redouble efforts in prevention, research and care! #parkinson
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Michael Okun
@MichaelOkun
Sep 17, 2024
Does the brain change during pregnancy? You bet it does. How about doing 26 MRI scans on a single person pre-conception to 2 years post-partum. WOW! Laura Pritschet and colleagues nailed it with their new paper in @NatureNeuro. Key Points: - The authors point out that pregnancy
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Michael Okun
@MichaelOkun
Jun 30, 2025
How does the brain stop a thought in its tracks? Ever get stuck on a thought you just can't shake? Whether it's an unwanted memory, an intrusive worry or a pathological mental loop, a new paper in Nature Reviews Neuroscience by Michael Anderson and colleagues shines light on how
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Michael Okun
@MichaelOkun
May 17, 2024
Rest in peace to the term, extrapyramidal system. @AbhiLenka11 and @JankovicJoseph put the final nail in the coffin in their new piece in @GreenJournal Neurology Clinical Practice. Key Points: - Johann Prus coined the term extrapyramidal in 1898. - He experimented on dogs and
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Michael Okun
@MichaelOkun
Jul 16, 2023
Do you know how to teach your patients (persons w/disease) the simple home maneuver; the Semont Plus to alleviate their dizziness from benign positional vertigo. If we all learn this technique and teach it, we will save the healthcare system a bundle. @JAMANeuro trial
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Michael Okun
@MichaelOkun
May 10, 2025
Does living 1-3 miles from a golf course increase your risk of Parkinson's? This isn’t about golf folks—it’s about pesticides, environmental exposures, and preventable risks hiding in plain sight. A new study by Brittany Krzyzanowski and colleagues in JAMA Network Open is eye
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Michael Okun
@MichaelOkun
May 18, 2025
Do we need to rethink near-death experiences? What’s really happening in the brain? NDEs might be a hardwired coping strategy: the dissociation, calmness, and detachment when facing death may actually be an evolutionarily protective response. For decades, people have asked me:
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Michael Okun
@MichaelOkun
Oct 20, 2024
Do you know how GLP-1 drugs were discovered? Everyone is talking about the potential for GLP-1 drugs in Parkinson's and neurodegeneration and the story and history are important to retell as Daniel Drucker reviews for us in @NEJM. Congrats to the award winners of the 2024
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Michael Okun
@MichaelOkun
Jul 14, 2023
Hoover's neurological sign. Do you know how to perform it. We have been in neurology consults this week and we find this sign useful beyond organic from functional differentiation. Remember to utilize your contralateral hand under the ankle to help you gauge and understand the
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Michael Okun
@MichaelOkun
Sep 8, 2024
Boom! Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow extends to peripheral nerves. Alexander Ligocki, Ed Scott and colleagues @UF @UFHealth blow our minds. New paper @ScienceAdvances. What will we call it now? Cerebro-spinal-nerve fluid (CSNF)? or maybe brain-spinal-nerve fluid (BSN)? Just when
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Michael Okun
@MichaelOkun
Oct 13, 2022
Why don't more people use Babinski Trunk-Thigh test (1897). We did it yesterday on rounds and med studs tred it to validate it actually works. 'Sit up w/arms crossed.' Watch the knees. If one or both stay down (even in paresis) start thinking functional. neurohistory.nl/old/downloads/…
Michael Okun
@MichaelOkun
Apr 3, 2024
Big news with positive result announced for a randomized study of a GLP-1 agonist for Parkinson's just released @NEJM. A new era for Parkinson's or alternatively, more questions than answers raised by Meissner and colleagues. Key Points: - This multi-center French trial studied
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