A new study reveals a key group of neurons responsible for controlling left-right movements, offering insights that could benefit Parkinson’s disease treatment. This discovery highlights the complex interaction between the brainstem and basal ganglia in movement control.
In a new study, researchers have discovered the missing piece in the complex nerve-network needed for left-right turns. The discovery was made by a research team consisting of Assistant Professor Jared Cregg, Professor Ole Kiehn, and their colleagues from the Department of Neuroscience at the Years ago, scientists learned that by stimulating the basal ganglia you can affect right- and left-hand movements in mice. They just did not know how.
In the new study, the researchers studied the brain of mice, as their brainstem closely resembles the human brainstem. Therefore, the researchers expect to find a similar right-left circuit in the human brain.Parkinson’s disease is caused by a lack of dopamine in the brain. This affects the basal ganglia, and the researchers responsible for the new study believe that this leads to failure to activate the brainstem’s right-left circuit.
“These mice had difficulties turning, but by stimulating the PnO neurons we were able to alleviate turning difficulties,” Jared Cregg says.