The most effective treatment for late-stage Parkinson's disease is to electrically stimulate the subthalamic nucleus (STN) at high frequencies. Why this strategy works is unclear. The work by Do and Bean shows that the Na channels in STN neurons have distinctive features--like resurgence--that regulate their spiking behavior, providing new insights into the mechanism of DBS.

Projections from the posterior intralaminar thalamic nuclei and the superior colliculus (SC) to the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and the zona incerta (ZI) have been described in the primate and rodent. The aims of this study was to investigate several questions on these projections, using modern neurotracing techniques in rats, to advance our understanding of the role of STN and ZI. We examined wh...

Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com LC: Locus Coeruleus; LHA: Lateral Hypothalamic Area; MLR: Midbrain Locomotor Region; NAc: Nucleus Accumbens; NRGc: Nucleus Reticularis Gigantocellularis; NRMc: Nucleus Reticularis Magnocellularis; ORX: Orexin; PD: Parkinson’s Disease; PM: Premotor Area; PMRF: Pontomedullary Reticular Formation; PPN: Pedunculopontine Tegmental Nucleus; PRF: Pontine R...

background : subthalamic nucleus (stn) stimulation is the  reatment of choice for carefully chosen patients with idiopathic parkinson's disease (pd) and refractory motor fluctuations. we evaluated the value of intraoperative electrophysiology during stn deep brain stimulation (dbs) procedures in refining the anatomically-defined target. methods : we determined the spatial distance between the a...

Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com LC: Locus Coeruleus; LHA: Lateral Hypothalamic Area; MLR: Midbrain Locomotor Region; NAc: Nucleus Accumbens; NRGc: Nucleus Reticularis Gigantocellularis; NRMc: Nucleus Reticularis Magnocellularis; ORX: Orexin; PD: Parkinson’s Disease; PM: Premotor Area; PMRF: Pontomedullary Reticular Formation; PPN: Pedunculopontine Tegmental Nucleus; PRF: Pontine R...

Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com LC: Locus Coeruleus; LHA: Lateral Hypothalamic Area; MLR: Midbrain Locomotor Region; NAc: Nucleus Accumbens; NRGc: Nucleus Reticularis Gigantocellularis; NRMc: Nucleus Reticularis Magnocellularis; ORX: Orexin; PD: Parkinson’s Disease; PM: Premotor Area; PMRF: Pontomedullary Reticular Formation; PPN: Pedunculopontine Tegmental Nucleus; PRF: Pontine R...

A critical role of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in the control of movement has been proposed based on the observations that its lesion or high-frequency stimulation, aimed at altering its activity, is effective in alleviating clinical features of Parkinson’s disease (Bergman et al,. 1990; Bennazouz et al., 1993; Pollak et al., 1993, Benazzouz et al., 2000). Indeed, overactivity of the subthala...

The subthalamic nucleus (STN) is traditionally thought to be involved in motor control, and dysfunction of the STN is thought to contribute to movement disorders. Here, we show that the STN also plays an important role in motivational processes and the response to drugs of abuse. Specifically, bilateral STN lesions produced a dose-dependent increase in the psychomotor-activating effects of coca...

Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com LC: Locus Coeruleus; LHA: Lateral Hypothalamic Area; MLR: Midbrain Locomotor Region; NAc: Nucleus Accumbens; NRGc: Nucleus Reticularis Gigantocellularis; NRMc: Nucleus Reticularis Magnocellularis; ORX: Orexin; PD: Parkinson’s Disease; PM: Premotor Area; PMRF: Pontomedullary Reticular Formation; PPN: Pedunculopontine Tegmental Nucleus; PRF: Pontine R...

Considering the functional organization of the subthalamic nucleus (STN), we hypothesized that subthalamic deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) in Parkinson's disease might have a differential impact on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in relation to the position of active stimulating contact within the STN. In addition, we searched for any STN-DBS-related morning plasma cortisol changes in ...