Tass Lab Clinical Trials

Parkinson’s disease symptoms are associated with abnormal brain activity, in particular, abnormal synchronization within large neuronal populations. In detailed computational studies it was shown that Coordinated Reset (CR) stimulation, a patterned stimulation disrupting abnormal synchrony, enables to induce long-lasting desynchronization by modifying the structure and function of connections between neurons. The corresponding therapeutic effects were validated in Parkinsonian monkeys as well as in Parkinson’s patients treated with deep brain electrical stimulation. For this study, we set out to deliver the CR treatment non-invasively. To this end, we replace electrical bursts delivered through implanted electrodes by weak, non-painful vibratory bursts delivered to the fingertips. The purpose of our study is to evaluate Vibrotactile Coordinated Reset stimulation (vCR) and its effects on motor ability within Parkinson's patients. Email: parkinsonsvcr@stanford.edu