Watch a Parkinson's patient play clarinet to see if brain surgery is working

"LONDON - The doctors prepared to carry out the brain surgery, their medical tools laid out. Their patient, wide awake on the operating table, was given an instrument of her own: her clarinet, which she began to play. Denise Bacon, 65, blew into the mouthpiece as doctors stood behind her, piercing holes into her skull to implant electrodes that would deliver electrical pulses to the brain in a bid to improve her motor skills. The electrodes were connected to a pulse generator - a device likened to a pacemaker - which sent continuous pulses to modify the brain, helping her manage her symptoms of Parkinson's disease, for which there is no cure."

"Bacon underwent the procedure, known as Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS), in London's King's College Hospital in July. The semiprofessional musician was diagnosed with Parkinson's in 2014 and its symptoms greatly impacted her ability to feed herself, walk and play her "beloved" clarinet, eventually forcing her to leave the concert band she played for, the hospital said in a statement."

""If I can go back to playing clarinet, that will make a huge difference to my quality of life," Bacon told Ashkan before the surgery, he said. As the results of DBS are instant, the best way to assess the procedure's success was to have Bacon play as doctors stimulated her brain, one electrode at a time, doctors decided. Bacon was fitted with a type of stimulation device in her chest, which can monitor her brain activity and adjust stimulation when needed."

A 65-year-old semiprofessional clarinet player with Parkinson's underwent Deep Brain Stimulation to implant electrodes that deliver electrical pulses to motor circuits. The patient remained awake and played the clarinet during surgery while surgeons stimulated individual electrodes to assess immediate effects on motor control. A pulse generator implanted in the chest monitors brain activity and adjusts stimulation as needed. Parkinson's causes misfiring in movement-coordinating brain circuits, producing tremors, stiffness, slow movements and other symptoms that impaired the patient's ability to feed herself, walk and perform musically.

Read at The Washington Post