Cookies on this website

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you click 'Accept all cookies' we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies and you won't see this message again. If you click 'Reject all non-essential cookies' only necessary cookies providing core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility will be enabled. Click 'Find out more' for information on how to change your cookie settings.

Researchers at Oxford University have received a prestigious Wellcome Innovator Grant for investigating the role of the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) – a brainstem nucleus – in human consciousness.

The study is a collaboration between Neurosurgery (Associate Professor Alex Green at the Nuffield Department of Surgical Sciences, NDS), Engineering (Professor Tim Denison at the Department of Engineering Science and the MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit), and Neurology (Dr Damian Jenkins at the Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences). It builds on pilot data from Dr Alceste Deli who, during her DPhil, has shown that PPN stimulation can alter sleep and arousal states.

The project will involve a 10-subject first-in-man clinical trial of PPN stimulation in patients with minimally conscious state (MCS) following brain injury (trauma or stroke) and will involve further development of a Deep Brain Stimulation investigational system called the ‘Picostim-DyNeuMo’ that was developed in a strategic collaboration between Professor Denison and Bioinduction, Ltd, a UK-based company developing implantable medical devices. The Picostim-DyNeuMo embeds instrumentation that enables novel clinical neuroscience using therapeutic neurostimulators.

The research team aim to identify biomarkers that signify arousal state, within the brain and on EEG, and to develop ‘closed-loop’ stimulation patterns that optimise increased arousal and improve sleep. The device will also take into account circadian rhythms that are often disrupted in patients with MCS.

The trial will be supported by the Surgical Intervention Trials Unit (SITU) at NDS (Ms Lucy Davies) and there will be an ethical component led by Professor Julian Savulescu at the Oxford Martin School. Dr Martin Gillies from NDS will also be involved in the running of the project.

brainstem2

The patients in the trial will be implanted with Deep Brain Stimulating electrodes (connected to an Implantable Pulse Generator) into the PPN (brainstem) and signals from the brain (local field potentials), EEG (electroencephalogram) and other signals, such as physical activity, will be used to control the system in a ‘closed loop’ manner.

Similar stories

Ensuring LGBTQI+ people are treated fairly in mental health data

Andrey Kormilitzin outlines a new participatory study aimed at improving AI to take account of LGBTQI+ people so that their needs are better met by mental health services.

Life and Mind Building construction tops out

Another milestone was reached this week with the topping out ceremony of the new Life and Mind Building.

Dementias Platform UK secures £2.2 million funding from the Alzheimer’s Disease Data Initiative

The funding will support DPUK's work in bridging the gaps between discoveries in the lab, trials and new treatments for dementia.

Oxford spinout trials revolutionary bioelectronic implant to treat incontinence

The first participants in a clinical trial of a bioelectrical therapy to treat incontinence have received their “smart” bioelectronic implants.

Director of MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit appointed

From 2 January 2023, Professor Peter Magill will lead the Medical Research Council Brain Network Dynamics Unit (MRC BNDU) at the University of Oxford.