New study shows brain stimulation can alleviate Parkinson’s symptoms

UI neurosurgeons and neurologists recently published a study showing connections in the brain that can be treated to help Parkinson’s patients.

A new study by neurologists and neurosurgeons at the Iowa Neuroscience Institute at the University of Iowa delves into how deep brain stimulation may potentially help patients with Parkinson’s Disease.

The study, funded by private grants and National Institutes of Health grants, shows the first evidence of a direct correlation between the frontal cortex of the brain and the part of the brain in charge of controlling movement (the subthalamic nucleus). When stimulated at low frequencies, Parkinson’s patients performed better tasks at that were affected by their disease.

“There are a lot of diseases with impulsivity, and this is a problem that seriously affects the quality of life of patients,” neurosurgery resident Oliver Flouty said. “In order to treat [these diseases], we have to understand them.”

Flouty, along with neurosurgeon Jeremy Greenlee and neurologist Nandakumar Narayanan, recorded brain activity of patients during decision-making processes by using deep brain stimulation electrodes in the brain.

At low frequencies from this stimulation, patients were able to notably improve upon their movements and decision-making. An animal model was used as well, because rodents have similar frontal cortex structures as humans.

“This is a preliminary study to show how frontal areas can interact with areas that show movement,” Narayanan said. “It’s exciting because it could pave the way to new treatment for Parkinson’s patients.”

The team hopes to use this information to increase treatments for Parkinson’s patients with a wide array of symptoms, as well as to understand how the treatment may benefit patients with other types of degenerative diseases.

“We want to study other cognitive behaviors and see if there’s a way to refine or improve this therapy,” Narayanan said. “There will be a lot more work in order to see how it will be most effective for a large number of people.”

Flouty is working on a study that gives patients complex decisions to choose from, forcing them to control impulses in order to pick the correct option. He is continuing to see how these brain connections affect patients as well.

Parkinson’s is a neurodegenerative disease that affects motor functions and decision-making. According to the Parkinson’s Foundation website, approximately 60,000 Americans are diagnosed with Parkinson’s each year.

“This is a very serious disease that reduces quality of life for patients and their families, so we are always looking for ways to improve treatments and lessen the significant burdens that diseases like this inflict,” Greenlee said in an email to The Daily Iowan. “If we can do studies like this without adding risk, we need to advance the state of the art for treatment and understanding of conditions like Parkinson’s that affect the brain.”