Shared from parkinsonsnewstoday.com.
Neurosurgeons temporarily implanted a tiny device into the brains of three people with Parkinson’s disease to collect data on a poorly known brain region, with the goal of understanding how Parkinson’s affects executive function.
Doctors at the University of Colorado Anschutz — the first site authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to use the investigational device to study executive function — are collaborating with colleagues at Baylor University and Mass General Brigham to extend the research to 15 patients.
The Neuropixels device, a probe thinner than a human hair, will collect data from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, which is responsible for tasks such as planning, problem-solving, and multitasking — all impaired in Parkinson’s.