CHICAGO (WCIV) — Rev. Jesse Jackson is receiving a form of life support following his hospitalization in Chicago last week, a source close to his family told CNN Sunday.

CNN reported that Jackson's family source told them it was in an effort to stabilize his blood pressure after it was announced he was hospitalized with progressive supranuclear palsy on Wednesday. The source added that he has shown "brief, but meaningful" signs of responsiveness, according to the report.

READ MORE | "Civil Rights leader Jesse Jackson hospitalized in Chicago, under observation"

PSP is a rare brain disorder that affects balance, vision, and speech caused by nerve damage. Jackson has reportedly been managing the condition for more than a decade. Following his hospitalization, Jackson's son Jesse Jackson, Jr. said there had been "significant improvement" to his father's condition.

Born in Greenville, South Carolina, the 84-year-old reverend is known for his civil rights activism, and gained stature as an aide to Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 1960s. After King's assassination in 1968, Jackson rose to prominence as a true leader in the civil rights movement, founding Operation PUSH in 1971 and launching the National Rainbow Coalition in 1984 to fight for equal rights for all Americans. The two organizations merged into the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in 1996 with a mission to protect, defend, and gain civil rights by leveling the economic and educational playing fields, and to promote peace and justice around the world, according to the coalition's website.