Exact brain electrode placement for Parkinson’s patients now possible; Research opens the way to more precise deep brain stimulation
Wednesday, September 7, 2011 - 09:31
in Psychology & Sociology
Deep brain stimulation stops limb tremors in Parkinson's patients. But positioning the stimulation electrode in the brain must be done very precisely to avoid undesired side-effects. To make this possible, a researcher in the Netherlands has developed a method for precise, external localization of the right part of the brain: the motor area of the subthalamic nucleus. She has found an ingenious way to localize this 'magic area': by using MRI to visualize the pathways in the brain that lead to it.
