Deep Brain Stimulation News and Research

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Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical procedure used to treat a variety of disabling neurological symptoms—most commonly the debilitating symptoms of Parkinson’s disease (PD), such as tremor, rigidity, stiffness, slowed movement, and walking problems. The procedure is also used to treat essential tremor, a common neurological movement disorder. At present, the procedure is used only for patients whose symptoms cannot be adequately controlled with medications.

UAB investigators receive BRAIN Initiative award to study new DBS technology for Parkinson's disease

The University of Alabama at Birmingham has received a BRAIN Initiative grant of $7.3 million over five years from the National Institutes of Health to study new technology that could improve outcomes from deep brain stimulation, an increasingly important treatment for Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders.

18 Oct 2016

Salk scientist wins NIH grant for new technique to precisely target specific cells using sound waves

Salk Associate Professor Sreekanth Chalasani has been awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health's Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies Initiative for developing a way to selectively activate brain, heart, muscle and other cells using ultrasonic waves, which could be a boon to neuroscience research as well as medicine.

14 Oct 2016

Renishaw launches unique healthcare facility at Miskin site in South Wales

Global precision engineering company Renishaw plc has announced a new Healthcare Centre of Excellence at its Miskin site, located close to Cardiff, South Wales.

From Renishaw plc - Spectroscopy 5 Oct 2016

Clinical trial to examine effectiveness of diabetes drug to slow or stop progression of Parkinson's

Type II diabetes and Parkinson's disease may not appear to have much in common but a look below the surface reveals important molecular similarities that provide a potential target for fighting Parkinson's.

8 Sep 2016

MRI-guided focused ultrasound treatment improves quality of life in patients with essential tremor

Treatment with MRI-guided focused ultrasound significantly improves tremors and quality of life in patients with essential tremor (ET), the most common movement disorder, according to a study published in the August 25 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

27 Aug 2016

UCLA researchers use noninvasive ultrasound technique to jump-start the brain of coma patient

A 25-year-old man recovering from a coma has made remarkable progress following a treatment at UCLA to jump-start his brain using ultrasound.

25 Aug 2016

New noninvasive treatment option improves quality of life in patients with essential tremor

25 Aug 2016

Dangers of do-it-yourself brain stimulation: an interview with Dr Michael D. Fox

tDCS is the administration of week electrical currents through electrodes on the scalp to modulate brain activity.

23 Aug 2016

FDA approves scalpel-free brain surgery to treat essential tremor

The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first focused ultrasound device to treat essential tremor, the most common movement disorder, in patients who do not respond to medication.

21 Jul 2016

Study provides more insight into effects of DBS in treatment of Alzheimer's disease

New findings published today by a team of researchers led by Dr. Andres Lozano at the Krembil Neuroscience Centre of Toronto Western Hospital have provided further insight into the effects of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

20 Jul 2016

New research shows how toxic Alzheimer's protein spreads through the brain

A toxic Alzheimer's protein can spread through the brain--jumping from one neuron to another--via the extracellular space that surrounds the brain's neurons, suggests new research from Columbia University Medical Center.

19 Jul 2016

FDA approves new ExAblate Neuro to treat patients with essential tremor

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first focused ultrasound device to treat essential tremor in patients who have not responded to medication. ExAblate Neuro uses magnetic resonance (MR) images taken during the procedure to deliver focused ultrasound to destroy brain tissue in a tiny area thought to be responsible for causing tremors.

11 Jul 2016

Researcher explores whether DBS can help improve life of bipolar disorder patients

Jennifer Sweet, MD, a neurosurgeon at University Hospitals Case Medical Center, recently opened a clinical research study to learn if there is a structural target in the brain for patients suffering from bipolar disorder and whether deep brain stimulation (DBS) can bring them relief.

27 May 2016

NeuroDerm starts patient enrollment in long-term safety study of ND0612 for treatment of Parkinson’s disease

NeuroDerm Ltd., a clinical stage pharmaceutical company developing drugs for central nervous system disorders, today announced the start of patient enrollment in a long-term safety study (trial 012) of the company’s continuously administered subcutaneous levodopa/carbidopa formulation used in both ND0612H and ND0612L.

13 May 2016

Researchers test potential positive effects of micro-injury in mice modeled with AD

Researchers testing the potential positive effects of "micro-injury" by brief insertion of a small needle into the hippocampal region of mice modeled with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have found that the procedure not only stimulated the hippocampus into regenerative activity, but also reduced β-amyloid plaques, a hallmark of AD.

27 Apr 2016

Caltech researchers map out pathways of neurons responsible for Parkinson's motor impairments

Because billions of neurons are packed into our brain, the neuronal circuits that are responsible for controlling our behaviors are by necessity highly intermingled. This tangled web makes it complicated for scientists to determine exactly which circuits do what. Now, using two laboratory techniques pioneered in part at Caltech, Caltech researchers have mapped out the pathways of a set of neurons responsible for the kinds of motor impairments--such as difficulty walking--found in patients with Parkinson's disease.

21 Apr 2016

Innovative wristwatch tool could improve quality of life for Parkinson's patients

An innovative new tool that resembles a wristwatch could improve the quality of life for patients with Parkinson's disease and better inform neurologists who treat them.

19 Apr 2016

Zonisamide relieves myoclonus dystonia motor symptoms

A randomised crossover trial shows that zonisamide significantly improves motor symptoms and related disability in adults with myoclonus dystonia.

12 Apr 2016

Parkinson's disease medications could lead to impulse control disorders

Drugs commonly prescribed to treat Parkinson's disease have been linked to impulse control disorders such as pathological gambling, compulsive buying, hypersexuality and binge eating in some patients, report neurologists from Loyola Medicine and Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

6 Apr 2016

Neurons in hypothalamus help maintain blood glucose levels, study finds

To learn what different cells do, scientists switch them on and off and observe what the effects are. There are many methods that do this, but they all have problems: too invasive, or too slow, or not precise enough. Now, a new method to control the activity of neurons in mice, devised by scientists at Rockefeller University and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, avoids these downfalls by using magnetic forces to remotely control the flow of ions into specifically targeted cells.

24 Mar 2016