Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders
Parkinson’s disease is a devastating, progressive disorder that affects an estimated 1.5 million Americans. Doctors understand the basic cause of Parkinson’s disease: the death of dopamine-producing brain cells in a small area of the brainstem called the substantia nigra. But there is still no prevention or cure. Drug treatments often lose effectiveness. And there is only an imperfect understanding of the circuit disruptions that cause the symptoms of tremor, hesitancy, and balance problems.
The Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Program at Stanford brings together researchers from multiple departments, including neurosurgery, bioengineering and neurocience, in a tightly-knit collaborative group. The team is involved in leading-edge investigation at multiple levels, from basic science in the laboratory to translational science in the operating room and clinical trials of new therapeutics. Ongoing projects include investigation of deep brain stimulation, an approach that can be helpful when medication fails. This technique places fine wire electrodes in the brain area controlling movement. Stimulating the electrode can relieve symptoms. Recording from the target area, as the electrode is placed, shows that there are abnormal oscillations in the usual electrical activity here, which are hypothesized to play a major role in the genesis of Parkinsonian symptoms. Researchers are also setting up “Parkinson’s in a petri dish,” in which cultures of skin cells derived from Parkinson patients can be made to exhibit characteristics of the disorder. These cells can be a proving ground for testing new drugs or other therapies, allowing experiments that would be impossible to perform in patients or animals. Stanford will soon begin trials of a gene therapy for Parkinson’s treatment, introducing a specific gene into neurons in an area called the subthalamic nucleus, a place that is overactive in Parkinson’s disease.
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