Leave the Brain Out of It: Spinal Stimulation Could Offer an Alternative to Treat Parkinson’s Motor Symptoms

FoxFeed Blog

Posted by  Maggie McGuire, March 10, 2014

Image of spinal cord and nervous system courtesy of NIH

Deep brain stimulation
is a game changer for
many Parkinson’s disease
(PD) patients. This therapy
can alleviate motor 
symptoms and improve 
quality of life, 
but it does require 
brain surgery and is not
 a possibility for all 
people with PD.

A group of researchers
from Duke University
and the Edmond and 
Lily Safra Institute of Neuroscience of Natal in Brazil is working toward the same 
end result without the need for such an invasive procedure. These investigators 
made a splash earlier this year when they published in Scientific Reports 
that spinal cord stimulation in pre-clinical models improved motor symptoms
and showed neuronal protection.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) did not fund that study, but we have
funded research from this same group of investigators to test spinal
stimulation in a more advanced model. The MJFF-supported study is
not testing the neuroprotective effect.

“This is an exciting time for, what we call, neuromodulation,” says Maurizio
Facheris, MD, MSc, associate director of research programs at MJFF.  
While deep brain stimulation has helped many people living with Parkinson’s
disease, there are limitations to its use. Spinal stimulation could extend this
therapeutic approach to many more.”

For deep brain stimulation (DBS), a surgeon implants a thin electrode into the
brain, targeting motor circuits that are not functioning properly. Small electrical
pulses from a device similar to a cardiac pacemaker block the signals that
cause some Parkinson's motor symptoms. Spinal stimulation uses the same
technique, but rather than blocking the signals where they begin, the therapy
blocks them further downstream. The electrodes are implanted in the dura, the 
outermost of three layers that surround the spinal cord.

Spinal cord stimulation is already used to treat chronic pain. Researchers
are fine-tuning the application to work on the neurons that misfire to create
Parkinson’s motor symptoms. If successful, this procedure would be an alternative 
for patients who may not be able to have DBS because of vascular problems,
mood disorders or aversion to brain surgery.

Through another grant, MJFF is supporting researchers from the University
of California, San Francisco to develop a method to record brain activity
during DBS so the stimulation can take place only when needed instead
 of continuously. The same enhancements could be used in spinal stimulation.