Brain Stimulation News and Research

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Study shows patients regain hand function when given cortical stimulation with rehab

Sending tiny electric pulses to a part of the brain controlling motor function helps ischemic stroke survivors regain partial use of a weakened hand, new Oregon Health & Science University research shows.

28 Mar 2006

Sending tiny electric pulses to a part of the brain controlling motor function boosts stroke recovery

23 Mar 2006

Safer treatment for depression

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, with the help of a team of Pittsburgh high school science teachers, have developed a wireless device that is implanted in the neck to fight depression and epileptic seizures.

23 Jan 2006

Pitt team develop wireless treatment for depression, seizures

19 Jan 2006

Eye cell implants improve lives of Parkinson's sufferers

U.S. researchers say that people with Parkinson's disease showed a marked improvement after surgeons implanted in their brains chemical-producing cells taken from the eye of a dead donor.

14 Dec 2005

Computer-aided guidance system simplifies the surgical treatment for movement disorders

Tens of thousands of people who experience movement disorders associated with Parkinson's and a variety of other neurological conditions stand to benefit from a new guidance system that uses computerized brain-mapping techniques to significantly improve an increasingly popular procedure called deep brain stimulation.

21 Nov 2005

New York-Presbyterian Hospital offers Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) Therapy

New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center is the first in the greater New York City-area to offer Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS) Therapy as a long-term treatment specifically approved by the FDA for treatment-resistant depression (TRD).

7 Nov 2005

Deep brain stimulation can lower blood pressure

The possibility of a patient lowering their blood pressure at the flick of a switch has been raised by research led by Oxford University, which shows that stimulating parts of the brain with electrodes can change a patient’s blood pressure.

20 Oct 2005

Simulator helps stroke patients learn to drive again

A high-fidelity simulator that allows people to practice driving on a computer-generated course can help stroke patients learn to drive again, researchers have found.

27 Sep 2005

Neurologix announces positive interim results of gene therapy clinical trial for patients with Parkinson's disease

Neurologix has announced positive interim results of its landmark gene therapy clinical trial for patients with Parkinson's disease. Neurologix's 12-patient, dose-escalating Phase I trial is the world's first study to use a viral vector (the non-pathogenic adeno-associated virus, or AAV) for the treatment of an adult neurological disease.

26 Sep 2005

Guidelines for treatment of essential tremor

Imagine not being able to hold a glass, tie your shoelaces or write a check. For people with the common movement disorder known as essential tremor, simple tasks requiring fine motor coordination become increasingly difficult, sometimes even impossible.

27 Jun 2005

Study examines reasons for unsatisfactory outcomes following deep brain stimulation surgery

A study of follow-up care for patients with unsatisfactory outcomes from deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery for movement disorders offers insights into reasons for problems and proposes strategies for improved outcomes. The study will appear in the August print issue of Archives of Neurology.

13 Jun 2005

Doctors study surgery to stop epileptic seizures

Melinda Hillyard of Winchester, Va., first had epileptic seizures when she was eight years old. The seizures went away for years, then returned after the birth of her first child. "I never knew when my world would turn upside down," she recalled.

6 Jun 2005

Investigational device-based therapies will lead to entirely new treatment options for chronic depression sufferers

Researchers said that developing brain stimulation techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), vagal nerve stimulation and deep brain stimulation are emerging as significant treatment options for the millions of patients "poorly served" by existing therapies.

23 May 2005

Deep brain stimulation alleviates severe depression

Canadian researchers have found that severe depression, which is often unresponsive to standard treatments, may be alleviated with an experimental treatment called deep brain stimulation.

3 Mar 2005

Unique study of the use of deep brain stimulation

Canadian researchers have seen promising results from a unique study of the use of deep brain stimulation (DBS), in severely depressed patients resistant to standard treatments.

28 Feb 2005

Electrical deep brain stimulation can dramatically alleviate depression

Electrical deep brain stimulation can dramatically alleviate depression that is resistant to other treatments, researchers have found in an initial study on six patients.

28 Feb 2005

Deep brain stimulation could help alleviate Parkinson’s symptoms on both sides of the body

For many patients with advanced Parkinson’s disease, deep brain stimulation can mean the difference between having difficulty walking and being able to run.

22 Oct 2004

First Parkinson’s gene therapy patient well after 1 year suggesting that the therapy is safe and effective

The first ever patient to have undergone gene therapy for Parkinson’s appears to have come through phase I without a hitch, suggesting that the therapy is safe and effective, reports Marina Murphy in Chemistry & Industry.

2 Sep 2004

New screening tool prevents wrong patients from receiving Parkinson's surgery

The allure of a new brain surgery technique to relieve the stiffness and shaking caused by Parkinson’s disease may lead to unnecessary operations, University of Florida researchers say, but a new screening tool they developed could prevent potentially dangerous procedures.

9 Aug 2004