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Spinal cord stimulation alleviates motor deficits in a primate model of Parkinson disease.

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Author

  • Maxwell B Santana
  • Pär Halje
  • Hougelle Simplício
  • Ulrike Richter
  • Marco Aurelio M Freire
  • Per Petersson
  • Romulo Fuentes
  • Miguel A L Nicolelis

Summary, in English

Although deep brain electrical stimulation can alleviate the motor symptoms of Parkinson disease (PD), just a small fraction of patients with PD can take advantage of this procedure due to its invasive nature. A significantly less invasive method-epidural spinal cord stimulation (SCS)-has been suggested as an alternative approach for symptomatic treatment of PD. However, the mechanisms underlying motor improvements through SCS are unknown. Here, we show that SCS reproducibly alleviates motor deficits in a primate model of PD. Simultaneous neuronal recordings from multiple structures of the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic loop in parkinsonian monkeys revealed abnormal highly synchronized neuronal activity within each of these structures and excessive functional coupling among them. SCS disrupted this pathological circuit behavior in a manner that mimics the effects caused by pharmacological dopamine replacement therapy or deep brain stimulation. These results suggest that SCS should be considered as an additional treatment option for patients with PD.

Publishing year

2014

Language

English

Pages

716-722

Publication/Series

Neuron

Volume

84

Issue

4

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Cell Press

Topic

  • Neurosciences

Status

Published

Research group

  • Integrative Neurophysiology

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0896-6273