High frequency deep-brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (deep brain stimulation, DBS) relieves many of the symptoms of Parkinson's disease in humans and animal models. Although the treatment has seen widespread use, its therapeutic mechanism remains paradoxical. The subthalamic nucleus is excitatory, so its stimulation at rates higher than its normal firing rate should worsen the disea...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Information about age-related changes in the striatum comes almost exclusively from cross-sectional studies. We examined age-related differences and longitudinal changes in the volume of the striatal nuclei, compared longitudinal measures of changes with their cross-sectional estimates, and addressed the question of differential aging of the basal ganglia. METHODS We me...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE In the brains of newborns, changes in signal intensity in most structures can be explained by the development of myelination. However, there are some structures for which signal intensity changes cannot be accounted for by myelination alone. We examined the STN and globus pallidus signal intensities and tried to determine whether a relationship exists between the signal i...

Dopamine D3 receptors are preferentially localized in the limbic system and midbrain, and thus may be involved in the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatry disorders. [11C](+)-PHNO is the first preferential D3 receptor radioligand in humans, yet there are no blockade studies with a D3 receptor antagonist in humans. This study characterized the blockade of [11C](+)-PHNO binding by ABT-925, a D3 rec...

OBJECT This study was performed to evaluate the reliability and utility of using monopolar impedance monitoring for estimation of the location of the thermocouple electrode during a pallidotomy procedure. METHODS In 26 patients, impedance profiles were measured at 2-mm intervals and anatomical boundaries were marked on postoperative MRI studies in 19 patients. The pattern of change in impedan...

UNLABELLED A 10-year-old boy with transcobalamin II (TCII) deficiency on oral cyanocobalamin therapy presented with acute right hemiparesis and sensory axonal neuropathy in the context of an intercurrent viral illness. MRI demonstrated unilateral globus pallidus stroke with normal MRA. Echocardiogram was normal. Methylmalonic acid in serum was mildly elevated at 10.29 μmol/L (normal < 0.37 μmol...

OBJECTIVE The authors investigated structural abnormalities in brain regions comprising cortical-striatal-thalamic-cortical loops in pediatric patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). METHOD Volumes of the caudate nucleus, putamen, and globus pallidus and gray and white matter volumes of the anterior cingulate gyrus and superior frontal gyrus were computed from contiguous 1.5-mm mag...

The bursting properties of units recorded in globus pallidus and entopeduncular nucleus were studied in awake cats sitting quietly before and after ipsilateral excitotoxic striatal lesions. A computerized statistical procedure was used to identify and evaluate bursts in the recorded spike trains. Bursts were assigned a quantitative statistical measure of burst 'strength' (or improbability) - th...

INTRODUCTION Cerebral ischemia is the third leading cause of death and the primary cause of permanent disability worldwide. Atorvastatin is a promising drug with neuroprotective effects that may be useful for the treatment of stroke. However, the effects of atorvastatin on specific neuronal populations within the nigrostriatal system following cerebral ischemia are unknown. OBJECTIVE To evalu...

OBJECTIVE To compare differences in functional brain activity between tremor- and nontremor-dominant subtypes of Parkinson disease (PD) using functional magnetic resonance imaging. DESIGN In our study, patients with tremor-dominant PD and those with nontremor-dominant PD performed a grip task, and the results obtained were compared using voxelwise analysis. Areas of the brain that were signific...