Tremor arrest with thalamic microinjections of muscimol in patients with essential tremor. Ann Neurol 1999 Aug;46(2):249-52
Date
08/12/1999Pubmed ID
10443891DOI
10.1002/1531-8249(199908)46:2<249::aid-ana15>3.0.co;2-cScopus ID
2-s2.0-0032816134 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 77 CitationsAbstract
Six patients undergoing stereotactic procedures for essential tremor received microinjections of muscimol (a gamma-aminobutyric acid-A [GABA(A)] agonist) into the ventralis intermedius thalamus in areas where tremor-synchronous cells were identified electrophysiologically with microelectrode recordings and where tremor reduction occurred with electrical microstimulation. Injections of muscimol but not saline consistently reduced tremor in each patient. The effect had a mean latency of 7 minutes and lasted an average of 9 minutes. We propose that GABA-mediated thalamic neuronal inhibition may represent a mechanism underlying the effectiveness of surgery for tremor and that GABA analogues could potentially be used therapeutically.
Author List
Pahapill PA, Levy R, Dostrovsky JO, Davis KD, Rezai AR, Tasker RR, Lozano AMAuthor
Peter A. Pahapill MD, PhD Professor in the Neurosurgery department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AgedElectromyography
Female
Humans
Male
Microinjections
Muscimol
Parkinson Disease
Thalamus
