Alim-Louis Benabid and Mahlon DeLong win the 2014 Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award.

Abstract

The 2014 Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award recognizes the extraordinary efforts of two physician-scientists, Alim-Louis Benabid and Mahlon DeLong, whose combined work paved the way for the clinical use of deep brain stimulation to treat Parkinson’s disease (Figure ​(Figure1).1). Alim-Louis Benabid, a neurosurgeon at the University Hospital of Grenoble, France, pioneered the concept that high-frequency electrical stimulation in the brain could effectively treat tremors in patients. Neurologist Mahlon DeLong’s research provided the first roadmap of the circuitry of the basal ganglia, a set of structures beneath the cerebral hemispheres, and showed that a portion of the subthalamic nucleus is critically involved in relaying signals that influence movement. Their groundbreaking observations led to the development of deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus to treat dyskinesia in Parkinson’s disease patients. Figure 1 The recipients of the 2014 Lasker~DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award. Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by movement abnormalities that are triggered by the loss of dopamine-producing cells in a region of the midbrain known as the substantial nigra. Patients experience a range of symptoms including tremor, rigidity, difficulty in initiating movement, and slowness of movement (bradykinesia). While treatment with levodopa, a precursor of dopamine, can ameliorate symptoms, the medication itself may cause involuntary movements (dyskinesias) and motor fluctuation in patients as the disease progresses. Based on the work of Mahlon Delong and others in the field, we now know that several of the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease are caused by abnormal activity of neurons in the motor pathways of the basal ganglia, including the subthalamic nucleus. This understanding, coupled with the high-frequency deep brain stimulation technique that was developed by Alim-Louis Benabid, provided a new clinical approach that can dramatically improve the quality of life for Parkinson’s disease patients.