Spinal stimulation produces meaningful improvements in locomotion in 2 different animal models of Parkinson disease, reported an international team of scientists.
Dopamine replacement is currently the primary therapy for Parkinson disease, but such therapy may become less effective over the long term. Deep brain stimulation, which involves delivering electric impulses through electrodes that are precisely positioned in the brain, also is used to alleviate locomotor symptoms. Now, a team of researchers has demonstrated that a less invasive technique, epidural stimulation of the dorsal columns, might be useful (Fuentes R et al. Science. 2009;323[5921]:1578-1582).
The scientists tested epidural stimulation in mice and rats with Parkinson-like symptoms. They found that in both models, spinal stimulation increased movement to more normal levels and led to more typical patterns of brain activity prior to locomotion.
