A high-tech imaging study to understand how brain connectivity patterns change after deep brain stimulation in patients suffering from essential tremor has been launched at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).
The clinical trial, led by Albert J. Fenoy, MD, associate professor of neurosurgery with McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, is funded with a $2.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
“Deep brain stimulation is a very effective treatment strategy to control tremor, but efficacy can wane over time and side effects can develop, likely due to an incomplete understanding of the network effects of chronic stimulation.” said Dr. Fenoy, director of the Deep Brain Stimulation Program at UTHealth Neurosciences. “Our goal is to verify what is occurring, which can be elucidated through imaging during stimulation.”
