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The central goal of the Northwestern University Udall Center is to determine how neural activity in basal ganglia circuits is altered in Parkinson's disease, with the goal of developing new therapies to normalize this activity and alleviate the symptoms of the disease.

The center's research program employs state-of-the-art electrophysiological, optical and computational approaches to understand the pathophysiology of the basal ganglia regions most intimately linked to the symptoms of Parkinson's disease - the globus pallidus and subthalamic nucleus. Current neurosurgical treatment strategies for later stage Parkinson's disease patient target these regions, most commonly with deep brain stimulation.

The Northwestern University Udall Center has four project teams and a molecular biology core facility. Surmeier directs one of the project teams studying neurons found in the globus pallidus. Mark Bevan, associate professor of physiology, heads a team studying neurons found in the subthalamic nucleus.

Two other projects involve researchers affiliated with other institutions. Kitoshi Kita, University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, Memphis, heads a team whose goal is to understand how globus pallidus and subthalamic neurons communicate with one another. Last, Charles Wilson, University of Texas, San Antonio, directs a project aimed at generating computational models of how these complex brain circuits interact in Parkinson's disease.

Key Udall Center Participants:
o Project 1 - Jim Surmeier - Northwestern University
o Project 2- Mark Bevan - Northwestern University
o Project 3 - Hitoshi Kita - U. Tennessee, Memphis
o Project 4 - Charles Wilson - U. Texas, San Antonio
o Molecular Core - Tatiana Tkatch - Northwestern University

New basic science projects underway that address PD etiology:
o Characterization of ionic mechanisms contributing to dopaminergic cell vulnerability in PD.
o Characterization of the mitochondrial response to stress in dopaminergic neurons from animal models of PD.

Clinical projects that are planned:
o The impact of STN-DBS on sleep disorders in PD patients - Phyllis Zee (NU).
o The impact of STN-DBS on gait/balance disturbances in PD patients - Mark Rogers (NU).
o The impact of STN-DBS on sequential movement deficits in PD patients - Colum McKinnon, Tanya Sumini (NU).

Last updated April 11, 2005