posted on May 9, 2014
MSI PI Colum MacKinnon, an assistant professor in the Department of Neurology in the Medical School, specializes in research concerning the effects of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Professor MacKinnon is studying a PD-related issue called “freezing of gait,” in which the patient is unable to start or continue walking. He is the director of the Movement Disorders Laboratory.
The Academic Health Center’s Health blog recently published a post about Professor MacKinnon’s research, including a study that is investigating why visual cues, like a flashing light, sometimes help a patient break the “freeze.” It is hoped that, eventually, using appropriate cues may allow patients to overcome or avoid gait freezes without the use of medications. The group is using MSI storage resources for the huge amounts of data that they are generating from high-speed video recordings, force platforms, and multi-channel EMG recordings.
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune has also recently published an article about the Parkinson’s disease research being performed at the University of Minnesota.