ADVANCES IN TARGETED MOTOR CIRCUIT INTERVENTIONS FOR MOVEMENT DISORDERS

Impaired mobility and abnormal movements are a major source of disability in neurological diseases. Neuromodulation that applies therapeutic
electric currents or magnetic fields to the brain has demonstrated the ability to restore motor deficits in movement disorder patients, as best exemplified by deep brain
stimulation in Parkinson’s disease (PD), which can reverse the motor symptoms of PD.

In recent years, the clinical phenomenology of many brain disorders has been reinterpreted as dysfunction of task-specific brain circuits or “circuitopathies”. This
paradigm shift from local effects to distributed brain networks allows a unifying pathophysiological classification of neurological or psychiatric symptoms and the
development of circuit-specific neuromodulation therapies. In this framework, synchronized oscillatory activity is the basic principle for communication
between local and distant brain areas. Disruption of network activity, irrespective of the underlying cause, leads to functional impairment through
common effector pathways.

This lecture will summarize our current physiological understanding of neuromodulation effects and discuss clinical used cases. Moreover,
technological advances and clinical and translational research opportunities for next generation neuromodulation therapies will be introduced.

Registration: Bianca.Dragomir@lih.lu

This lecture series is organised jointly by the Prof. Rejko Krüger and Prof. Jochen
Klucken on behalf of the research groups Translational Neuroscience (LCSB),
Transversal Translational Medicine (LIH), and Digital Medicine (LIH, LCSB).