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Tremor arrest with thalamic microinjections of muscimol in patients with essential tremor
Author(s) -
Pahapill Peter A.,
Levy Ron,
Dostrovsky Jonathan O.,
Davis Karen D.,
Rezai Ali R.,
Tasker Ronald R.,
Lozano Andres M.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
annals of neurology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.764
H-Index - 296
eISSN - 1531-8249
pISSN - 0364-5134
DOI - 10.1002/1531-8249(199908)46:2<249::aid-ana15>3.0.co;2-c
Subject(s) - muscimol , microinjections , microstimulation , thalamus , neuroscience , medicine , essential tremor , anesthesia , agonist , stimulation , psychology , central nervous system , receptor
Six patients undergoing stereotactic procedures for essential tremor received microinjections of muscimol (a γ‐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. Ann Neurol 1999;46:249–252