Seminários em Neurociências 2011.1

Segunda-feira 23/05/2011 10:50h Sala 4 – Escola de Ciência e Tecnologia

Stimulation of the Spinal Cord for treating motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease validated in the Callithrix jacchus model
Maxwell Santana (Doctoral Student, Psychobiology Program, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte and Edmond & Lily Safra International Institute of Neuroscience of Natal)
Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder that affects the elderly. Pharmacotherapy and surgical treatment modalities are currently available for PD. The main drug used is levodopa; however, prolonged use promotes the emergence of complications due to side effects. Moreover, surgical forms available, such as deep brain stimulation, are considered very invasive. Recently, Fuentes and colleagues showed that electrical stimulation of afferent pathways in the spinal cord can restore locomotion in rats and mice with severe parkinsonian symptoms. Given the differences in the rodent and primate neural circuits involved in motor control, it is important to assess the efficacy of this technique in primate model as an intermediary step to validate spinal cord stimulation as a new method to treat motor symptoms in PD. Then, the goal of this work is to test effect of spinal cord stimulation in PD motor symptoms in a nonhuman primate model (common marmoset). I will show the development of the project at this moment and the previous results.