# Somatosensory stimulation therapies for movement disorders

> **NIH VA I21** · LOUIS STOKES CLEVELAND VA MEDICAL CENTER · 2021 · —

## Abstract

The goal of this project is to develop better ways to treat motor symptoms of Parkinson’s
disease. People with Parkinson’s disease typically have higher amounts of synchronization
across sensorimotor brain areas especially in the beta bands. This abnormal synchrony is
thought to impede the production of normal motor patterns. Breaking up that excess synchrony
can potentially improve motor symptoms and may help to renormalize brain network functioning.
To that end, somatosensory stimulation will be used in a rat model of Parkinson’s disease to try
to disrupt the excess brain network synchrony seen in Parkinson’s disease. Motor
improvements and brain network changes will be directly compared when stimulation is used to
activate two types of somatosensory receptors: 1) proprioceptive receptors (via electrically
induced twitches in limb muscles), and 2) cutaneous receptors (via subcutaneous stimulation to
activate the cutaneous receptors directly). Additionally, two types of stimulation patterns will also
be compared: 1) a consistent desynchronizing pattern, and 2) a randomly varying pattern. Motor
activity will be quantified before, during and after each combination of stimulation options. The
stimulation option that improves motor performance the most will then be further assessed to
determine whether it’s best to continuously apply that type of stimulation (open loop) or to only
turn it on when the brain is exhibiting excess synchrony (closed loop). The results of this study
will guide future human testing and could provide a less risky, non- or minimally invasive
treatment option with fewer side effects than current stimulation options like deep brain
stimulation.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10124848
- **Project number:** 1I21RX003592-01
- **Recipient organization:** LOUIS STOKES CLEVELAND VA MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** Dawn Marie Taylor
- **Activity code:** I21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** VA
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-11-01 → 2022-10-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10124848

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10124848, Somatosensory stimulation therapies for movement disorders (1I21RX003592-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10124848. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*