PARKINSON'S DISEASE

The goal of this project is to study the effects of acoustic stimulation in animal models of Parkinson disease to foster our knowledge of the possible beneficial effects of such type of stimulation and the underlying mechanisms behind it.

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In order to do so first we are developing a pharmacologically induced animal model of Parkinson’s disease. At the moment we are using an intrastriatal injection of the 6-hydroxidopamine, and we are using behavioural tests, electrophysiology recordings (EEG and EMG) and histology characterize the possible functional alterations present in the brain of pharmacologically induced animal models of Parkinson’s disease, through an intrastriatal injection of the neurotoxin 6-hydroxidopamine and longitudinal recordings of electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG). We also study motor alterations through behavioral tests, and their correlation with the dopaminergic neurodegeneration occurring at the substantia nigra pars compacta. We are also studying Additionally, we investigate the provoked cortical activity in the somatosensory region and the sleep cycles of such animals as opposed to healthy ones. The latter is not specifically targeted at evaluating the effects of acoustic stimulation, but to analyse possible traits that could lead to improve the diagnosis or evolution of the disease.

Once the basal behavior of this pharmacologically induced animal model of Parkinson’s disease is characterized, we will treat the animals with an acoustic, non-invasive therapy and we will study their possible effects at functional and cognitive level (behavioralbehavioural tests) and also at electrophysiological (EEG/EMG) level through computational analyses. We will compare its possible effects with those on healthy animals and also with those that of the standard treatment in PD, levodopa with benserazide, and whether the application of both treatments combined would result in a greater efficacy.