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A new approach to understand the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease

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Abstract

Here I introduce a dynamic model of the basal ganglia functions for the control of voluntary movement: information through major pathways in the cortico-basal ganglia loop, i. e., the cortico-STN-GPi/SNr “hyperdirect”, cortico-striato-GPi/SNr “direct” and cortico-striato-GPe-STN-GPi/SNr “indirect” pathways, dynamically controls the activity of the thalamus and cortex and releases only the selected motor program at the selected timing. Based on the dynamic model, the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease and the mechanism for the effectiveness of stereotaxic surgery can better be explained by an increase or decrease of disinhibition and inhibition in the thalamus and cortex in the temporal and spatial domains.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of System Neurophysiology, National Institute for Physiological Sciences, 38 Nishigonaka, Myodaiji, Okazaki 444-8585, Japan

    Atsushi Nambu MD, PhD

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  1. Atsushi Nambu MD, PhD
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Correspondence to Atsushi Nambu MD, PhD.

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Nambu, A. A new approach to understand the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease. J Neurol 252 (Suppl 4), iv1–iv4 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-005-4002-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-005-4002-y

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