Treating Parkinson's: Research Discovery Points To New Neural Pathways For Therapeutic Brain Stimulation

January 29, 2004

A leading international research journal has published a study by Dr. Bin Hu, professor of neurosciences and scientific
director for the Movement Disorder and Therapeutic Brain Stimulation Program at the University of Calgary Faculty of
Medicine. The article details the results of Hu's decade-long research into the thalamus, a part of the brain known to
be critically important in Parkinson's disease and movement disorders. The paper, Distinct forms of cholinergic
modulation in parallel thalamic sensory pathways, appears in the January 6 issue of the Proceedings of the National
Academy of Science (PNAS).

Dr. Hu, a recent recruit to U of C's Faculty of Medicine from the University of Ottawa, and his team have discovered
how the brain processes the sensory cues that prepare the body to move. "Our new understanding of cue cells in the
brain is transforming our thinking on how best to treat Parkinson's and other neurological problems," says Dr. Hu. "It
will allow us to design new drugs and improve our current treatments for people with Parkinson's, epilepsy and other
debilitating diseases."

The thalamus is a meeting place in the brain. Almost all of the signals for hearing, vision, touch and movement
converge in the thalamus. At the same time that sensory information comes into the thalamus, the cue cells are also
listening to signals from the cortex of the brain. When sensory information and signals from the cortex collide, the
cue cells fire up in a burst and prepare the body for action.

"This discovery may help us to solve the mystery of a well-documented phenomenon known as kinesia paradoxa, in which
people with Parkinson's have considerable difficulty initiating physical movement on their own, and yet, when we
provide strobing lights and/or music, they are able to move smoothly with little effort," says Dr. Hu.

"Dr. Hu's findings are immensely important in our understanding of the cause and mechanisms underlying Parkinson's and
other functional thalamo-cortical abnormalities. These findings represent a very significant step towards rational
treatment," says Dr. Rodolfo Llinás, chairman, Department of Physiology and Neuroscience, New York University School of
Medicine.

Because neurons in the thalamus decide which part of the brain gets signals and when, they exert a powerful influence
on how we think, remember and react to the outside world. "We now know that cue cells are controlled by a chemical
messenger called acetylcholine," says Dr. Hu. "This finding will help us to develop better treatments for movement
disorders because we can work on manipulating this chemical and cue cells to facilitate the recovery of sensorimotor
functions in patients."

Dr. Hu is part of a unique interdisciplinary team of neuroscientists at the Calgary Health Region / University of
Calgary, including Dr. Oksana Suchowersky, a neurologist, and Dr. Zelma Kiss, a neurosurgeon. As a neurophysiologist,
Dr. Hu helps Dr. Kiss to navigate within the brain during a specialized surgery known as therapeutic brain stimulation.
This treatment is designed to reduce the symptoms of Parkinson's, and allow people with Parkinson's to cut their
medication in half.

Dr. Hu's research has received support from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canada Foundation for
Innovation, Parkinson Society Canada, and the Ontario Mental Health Foundation.

This announcement is part two in a four-part series on the integrated clinical research team of the Movement Disorder
and Therapeutic Brain Stimulation Program. Watch in February for an update on Calgarian Mike Reitsma and a chronicle of
his surgery.

For information or interviews: Dr. Bin Hu, (403) 210-8640, [log in to unmask]

SOURCE: The University of Calgary
http://www.ucalgary.ca/news/jan04/parkinsons_3.html

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