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This is the part of the article Julie posted that affects us: I knew it was important to pay attention when walking, but will try this: “The condition: Parkinson’s disease. A movement disorder whose classic symptoms include shuffling gait, tremors, rigidity, difficulty initiating new movements and a weakened sense of balance. a.. The treatment: Conscious walking, with almost meditative-like concentration on each separate, minute aspect of taking a step – the shifting of weight, straightening, bending, launching, swinging, placing and landing. This “conscious performance” is next applied to actions affected by tremors (such as picking up a glass). a.. How it works: In Parkinson’s, a part of the brain that normally makes complex movements automatic, the substantia nigra, is not working well. With focused and conscious thought about movement, the Parkinson’s patient teaches another part of the brain to control action that was previously controlled by the unconscious brain automatically. By learning to perform an action in a slightly different way, the patient is engaging a different, unaffected part of the brain, in the frontal lobes. Once moving again, the patient, if they walk and rest, can trigger neurotrophic growth factors which, over time, contribute to the healing of brain circuits. non-invasive PoNS is in trials now, not FDA approved yet. The conditions: Multiple sclerosis, stroke, Parkinson’s disease, traumatic brain injury. a.. The treatment: Electrical stimulation of the top of the tongue, using a Portable Neuromodulation Stimulator (PoNS), to fire up the brain stem. a.. How it works: The tongue, Doidge explains, is arguably the royal road to the brain stem, an area hugely responsible for regulating the autonomic nervous system, breathing, much sensory input, even aspects of the immune system. Like other parts of the brain, the stem can also suffer from “noisy brain” with misfiring circuits and disregulated functions. The PoNS gives enough stimulation to sensory neurons to fire their own electrical signals to the brain stem and allow neuromodulation to rapidly occur.” Ray Rayilyn Brown Past Director AZNPF Arizona Chapter National Parkinson Foundation ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn