Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

An abnormal wiring in the brain may counteract genetic mutations for dystonia, and may lead to new treatment and prevention options for patients with movement disorders, according to the Journal of Neuroscience.

According to researchers at the Feinstein Institute, there are two separate pathways in the brain that influence the severity of the symptoms of movement disorders. All individuals who carry the mutations and symptoms for dystonia have an abnormal pathway between the cerebellum and the thalamus. These patients also have a normal second pathway between the thalamus and the cortex. However, researchers found that patients who have the mutation in the first pathway as well as in the second pathway have no symptoms of dystonia. In effect, the two defects seem to cancel each other out.

Researchers say this could be promising news to individuals who suffer from various movement disorders, from Parkinson’s disease to Tardive Dyskinesia, a condition that results from long term use of medications such as metoclopramide, a treatment for GERD and gastroparesis, and antidepressants.

One surgical treatment for both that has shown promising improvements in motor symptoms is known as deep brain stimulation, or DBS. Which leads researchers to ask, does abnormal brain wiring improve dystonia the same way as DBS?

Source: Brain Blogger

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