Persons with Parkinson’s disease increasingly lose their mobility over time and are eventually unable to walk. Hope for these patients rests on deep brain stimulation, also known as a brain pacemaker.

In a current study, researchers at Ruhr University Bochum and Philipps-Universität Marburg, Germany, investigated whether and how stimulation of a certain region of the brain can have a positive impact on ambulatory ability and provide patients with a higher quality of life. To do this, the researchers used a technique in which the nerve cells are activated and deactivated via light. Their report is published in the journal Scientific Reports.