Pedunculopontine nucleus stimulation improves akinesia in a ... : NeuroReport (original) (raw)

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Jenkinson, Ned1 3; Nandi, Dipankar1 2; Miall, R. Chris4; Stein, John F.1; Aziz, Tipu Z.1 2 3 CA

1University Laboratory of Physiology, Oxford University, Parks Road, Oxford

2Department of Neurosurgery, Radcliffe Infirmary, Woodstock Road OX2 6HE, Oxford

3 The Nuffield Department of Surgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headley Way, Oxford

4Behavioural Brain Sciences, School of Psychology, University of Birmingham, UK

CA,2Corresponding Author and Address: [email protected]

Received 4 October 2004; accepted 11 October 2004

Abstract

We have studied the effects of stimulating the pedunculopontine nuclei through a fully implanted macroelectrode with a s.c. implantable pulse generator whose parameters can be programmed telemetrically, in a macaque before and after inducing Parkinsonian akinesia with MPTP. Our results show that in the normal monkey high frequency stimulation of the pedunculopontine nuclei reduces motor activity while low frequency stimulation increases it significantly over baseline. After making the monkey Parkinsonian with MPTP, unilateral low frequency stimulation of the pedunculopontine nuclei led to significant increases in activity. These results suggest that pedunculopontine nuclei stimulation could be clinically effective in treating advanced Parkinson's disease and other akinetic disorders.