The main pathological characteristic of Parkinson's Disease is cell death in the substantia nigra and more specifically the ventral part of the pars compacta, affecting up to 70% of the cells by the time the patient dies.
The main pathological characteristic of Parkinson's disease is cell death in the substantia nigra. In particular, this death occurs in the dopaminergic cells of the pars compacta, with up to 70% of the cells affected by the time the patient dies.