Researchers have found a new way to target the sources of certain brain disorders, particularly Parkinson's disease, which affects the nervous system and the parts of the body controlled by nerves. Scientists at the well-known research center Mass General Brigham have identified the functional impairment in the brain responsible for four cognitive disorders: Parkinson's disease, dystonia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Tourette syndrome. This discovery, published in the journal Nature Neuroscience on February 22, could help doctors identify new treatments for these disorders.
Horn, one of the 39 researchers from 16 institutions who co-authored the study, discussed more details in a conversation with Fox News Digital. He stated, "Based on the current results, we can better understand why deep brain stimulation of a small subcortical structure helps patients with various disorders." The doctor added that for each of the disorders, a different brain network was identified as "functionally impaired," leading to these conditions. He pointed out that identifying these "damaged networks" could help us better understand the four disorders and target neural modulation more effectively to assist patients by alleviating symptoms.
Additionally, the researchers acknowledged that the study was limited and viewed this research as a first step in what will be a long process. They explained that "the study relies on retrospective data, and the main findings should be confirmed through future experiments, which represent the gold standard for evidence gathering in science and medicine." It is noted that the study included 261 patients worldwide, 70 of whom had dystonia, 127 had Parkinson's disease, 50 had obsessive-compulsive disorder, and 14 had Tourette syndrome. The researchers implanted electrodes in the brains of each participant and used a special program to identify the brain circuits that were impaired in each of the four disorders.
