Two forms of melanin: black/brown eumelanin and red/yellow pheomelanin color our skin and hair.
In the brain, a specific region called substantia nigra is also pigmented, and the brain pigment also contains eumelanin and pheomelanin. This brain region loses its darkness in Parkinson’s disease due to loss of neurons and pigment.
In 2017, investigators led by Xiqun Chen, MD, PhD, from the Department of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital, discovered that red hair/fair skin and the redhead-related gene, which are associated with melanoma1,2, may also be involved in Parkinson’s disease3.
