A TEAM of West Australian neuroscientists has won a $200,000 research grant to improve deep brain stimulation and further reduce motor symptoms of Parkinson's Disease.
Professors Sergio Starkstein and Christopher Lind will use the Parkinson's WA Zrinski Research Grant funds to focus on regions of the brain associated with severe tremor and motor fluctuations.
They have studied a new target area of the brain in nine patients who all showed significant motor improvement, without some of the negative side-effects that have emerged from existing deep brain stimulation techniques.
"So far, deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus is one of the most effective treatments for patients with Parkinson's who have marked on-off fluctuations, severe tremor or dyskinesia (involuntary movement) resulting from long-term use of medication," Professor Starkstein said.
"However the experience collected during the past 10 years shows that some patients may develop emotional and behavioural side-effects after the surgery such as apathy and depression, as well as cognitive deficits such as decline in memory and word fluency.
"One of the most interesting challenges in deep brain stimulation is to find the brain sites that provide the best motor improvement with the least side-effects."
The team has launched a new study to determine the site within the new target area that delivers the best motor response with the greatest safety.
Professor Starkstein said 15 patients had already undergone the surgery and been clinically assessed, and the grant funding would allow an extra 25 people to receive the treatment and clinical assessments.
"We are also acquiring sophisticated brain images, which will be analysed with state-of-the-art methods, and hopefully identify those individuals who will obtain the greatest benefit from subthalamic area deep brain stimulation," he said.
