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JUNE 05, 1998
How New Parkinson's Technique Works
 By The Associated Press

 How the Activa Parkinson's Control Therapy is implanted:

 Doctors drill through the skull and implant an electrode into the
subthalamic nucleus or the globus pallidus, deep sections of the brain
where Parkinson's motor-control symptoms appear to originate.

 A wire runs just under the scalp to the collarbone, where a
battery-powered, pacemaker-sized generator is implanted. It sends
electrical waves to the electrode, which emits tiny, constant shocks.

 An electrode implanted on the left side of the brain controls movement
in the right side of the body, and vice versa. Patients who experience
total-body Parkinson's symptoms would need two implants.
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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