Towards a computational model for stimulation of the Pedunculopontine nucleus

Lourens, Marcel A.J. and Meijer, Hil G.E. and Heida, Tjitske and Gils van, Stephan A. (2009) Towards a computational model for stimulation of the Pedunculopontine nucleus. BMC Neuroscience , 10 (Suppl 1). p. 282. ISSN 1471-2202

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Abstract:	The pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) has recently been suggested as a new therapeutic target for deep brain stimulation (DBS) in patients suffering from Parkinson's disease, particularly those with severe gait and postural impairment [1]. Stimulation at this site is typically delivered at low frequencies in contrast to the high frequency stimulation required for therapeutic benefit in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) [1]. Despite real therapeutic successes, the fundamental physiological mechanisms underlying the effect of DBS are still not understood. A hypothesis is that DBS masks the pathological synchronized firing patterns of the basal ganglia that characterize the Parkinsonian state with a regularized firing pattern. It remains unclear why stimulation of PPN should be applied with low frequency in contrast to the high frequency stimulation of STN. To get a better understanding of PPN stimulation we construct a computational model for the PPN Type I neurons in a network.
Item Type:	Article
Copyright:	© 2009 BioMed Central
Faculty:	Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS)
Research Group:	Applied Analysis and Mathematical Physics (AAMP) Biomedical Signals and Systems (BSS)
Link to this item:	http://purl.utwente.nl/publications/67578
Official URL:	http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1471-2202-10-S1-P282
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