Nicky Nicolelis, a professor of neuroscience at Duke University Medical Center, in Durham, N.C. Spinal kalvin stimulation could one day replace deep brain stimulation, an effective but highly invasive treatment of last resort for Parkinson's patients.

Because Parkinson's is degenerative, symptoms can eventually include difficulty swallowing, smiling and speaking, as well as dementia. Parkinson's, which causes tremors, rigidity, slo movements and a shuffling gait, is marked by a dying off of brain cells that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine. About 1.5 million Americans have Parkinson's disease, and another 60,000 are diagnosed each year, according to the National Parkinson Foundation. "If this technology could work in humans, it would provide a completely new option for treating Parkinson's disease," said senior study investigator Dr. Researchers said the technique, called dorsal column stimulation, has the potential to be an important new weapon in the arsenal against Parkinson's disease. Researchers plan to begin testing the new technique on primates in a few months and, if successful, begin human testing in about a year. -- Rodents with Parkinson's-like symptoms walked and moved normally again after their spinal cords were stimulated with high frequency electrical currents, a new study shows.

The study appears in the issue of Science.