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This is important news for all patients. Simple stimulation of the cerebellum could suppress tremors and other involuntary movements caused by Parkinson’s disease, according to an Inserm study.
Soon the end of dyskinesia for patients with Parkinson’s disease? This is what the study conducted by researchers from Inserm, ENS-PSL and the Collège de France, and published in the journal Kind Communication. This work shows that simple stimulation – emitted from the surface of the brain – is enough to suppress the involuntary movements linked to this neurodegenerative disease.
Stimulation of Purkinje cells in the cerebellum
To achieve this result, the scientists tested the treatment on mice. The goal? Reduce severe motor symptoms caused by Parkinson’s disease (tremors, slowness of movement, muscle stiffness, etc.).
Concretely, the scientists stimulated – for a few tens of seconds a day – the Purkinje cells, present on the surface of the brain, at the level of the cerebellum.
Result: these stimulations were able to suppress the abnormal movements. This process even succeeded in normalizing the activity of the motor circuits, including at the level of the site of presumed genesis of these dyskinesias, within the basal ganglia (or basal ganglia).
As for the duration of the effects, they last for several days or even weeks.
“These non-invasive cerebellar surface stimulations provide a novel avenue for the treatment of conditions deep within the brain.”say the researchers.
However, the mechanisms of plasticity must be identified. Furthermore, in order to duplicate these beneficial effects in humans, scientists are looking to “optimize these practices“.
Parkinson’s disease: available treatments
Several types of drug treatments exist to reduce the symptoms, but they do not provide a cure. These drugs are mainly used to compensate for the deficit of dopamine produced by certain neurons in the brain.
- Levodopa or L-Dopa : it is the most powerful medicine for the improvement of motor disorders. It only acts on certain symptoms (slowness, rigidity, tremor). However, its effects vary after several years.
- Dopamine agonists : these molecules attach themselves to the natural dopamine receptors to produce the same effects there.
- Other drugs : monoamine oxidase type B or MAOI-B inhibitors – which have a moderate dopaminergic action – and catechol-O-methyl transferase inhibitors, which increase the effects of L Dopa when taken simultaneously. A downside: these treatments can cause significant side effects.