Electrical stimulation of regions deep in the brain has become fairly common in recent years for treating Parkinson’s disease symptoms, but there may be a simpler and safer alternative.

The results of a study in baboons suggest that stimulation of the motor control area on the brain’s surface works too.

Delivering electrical stimulation to deep brain regions has been shown to help some people with Parkinson’s, but the skill required to implant the electrodes, as well as the risks of electrode misplacement, have limited the use of this procedure.

Parkinson’s symptoms have been tied to abnormal electrical activity in neurons in the main area that controls movement - the motor cortex - which is in the outer layer of the brain, a French team notes in the medical journal Neuron.

To see if stimulating the motor cortex at the surface of the brain might reduce symptoms “with fewer technical constraints,” Dr. Stephane Palfi of the Henri Mondor Hospital in Creteil and colleagues conducted experiments with baboons.

The animals had chemically induced Parkinson’s symptoms and were implanted with a four-contact electrode along the left primary motor cortex to deliver high-frequency, low-voltage stimulation.

During stimulation, the baboons with moderate to severe disability showed a significant improvement in rigidity and slow movements. There were no adverse effects seen in any of the animals.

“Motor cortex stimulation is a simple and safe procedure to alleviate ... parkinsonian symptoms without requiring deep brain stereotactic surgery,” the researchers conclude in their report.

The next steps in the research will be preliminary clinical trials with patients, Palfi told Reuters Health.

SOURCE: Neuron, December 2, 2004.