Spinal Cord Stimulation For Parkinson's Disease

The technique of spinal cord stimulation has helped people with chronic pain and people with motor deficits due to stroke or bodily injury. Can it hep people with Parkinson's Disease? Recent research suggests that it might. Studies of spinal cord stimulation in animal models of PD report promising results. In one such study stimulation of the dorsalcolumns in the spinal cord restored locomotion in 2 different animal models of PD. The dorsal columns of the spinal cord typically handle the transmission of sensory impulses from the body up to the brain. How can this sort of stimulation improve motor deficits? Interestingly the researchers found that dorsal column stimulation reduced 'aberrant low-frequency synchronous corticostriatal oscillations' in the brain and this in turn allowed for recovery of near normal motor functions. Aberrant low frequency synchonous corticostrial oscillations just means brain waves in the part of the brain that produces dopamine that fire in unison when they are suppose to fire in response to stimulation. Apparently synchronous firing of these brain cells can be normalized to some extent by spinal cord stimulation--at least in rats and mice. Hopefully human studies in people with PD will be underway soon.