2023-10-12 13:58:00
The movement sequences of Parkinson’s patients are disturbed. With the help of video games, researchers want to gain new insights into this.
“We want to try to understand how our Brain our movements “controls how we make decisions between different destinations, how we stop our movement and change it,” explains Vasileios Christopouplos. He is an assistant professor of Biotechnik an der University of California Riverside and leaves Parkinson’s patients before, during and after one Brain Surgery Playing Video Games.
The idea behind the 5-year, $5 million project is that it will give scientists a better insight into how the brain controls movement.
Movement sequences are disturbed in those affected
In Parkinson’s patients, the region of the brain that controls movements is disrupted. As a result, those affected can carry out movements more slowly, have problems stopping them or taking new actions.
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The more the disease progresses, the more cells die Dopamine to produce. However, this is responsible for positive feelings that support actions. Therefore, as part of the treatment, it is usually replaced with the active ingredient L-Dopa.
Brain stimulation is often the last resort
If this therapy no longer works, Brain stimulation often the last resort. Electrodes are used in the brain area Subthalamic Nucleuskurz STNto stimulate.
“If a bus is coming towards you and you want to stop earlier while crossing the street, the STN is involved. It is the Brake in the brain when you want to stop your action,” explains Christopoulos. “We know that this area is hyperactive in Parkinson’s. For those affected, every action feels like they are driving a car with their foot on the brake.”
How the study should work
For the research project around 200 people Electrodes are inserted into the brain while fully conscious. Study participants should take one before, during and after the procedure Video game with a joystick serve. The researchers hope to gain live insights into the effect of the treatment.
Christopoulos also wants to use the data to create a large-scale, mathematical model of the brain on which theories about brain functions can be tested.
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“What we hope to achieve as a result of this project is that we… Improve treatments in the future “Parkinson’s is a definitive disease, but we want to give people a better quality of life and a longer life.”
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