12th Annual Interdisciplinary Integration Symposium

Have you ever thought how lucky most of us are to have a system that modulates our motor activity without having to directly innervate our motor neurons? Our extrapyramidal system and tracts are very phylogenetically old. It is a system of neural networking that causes involuntary reflexes and movement and modulations of movement (coordination) by circumventing the medulla and targeting neurons in the spinal cord that are responsible for reflexes, locomotion, complex movements, and postural control. We are so coordinated when this modulation and regulation is non-impeded, and so plantar extended and hyper-reflexive when it is.

Extrapyramidal symptoms are most commonly caused by typical antipsychotic drugs that antagonize dopamine D2 receptors. Recent research relates symptoms to brain damage. However, there are many patients with extrapyramidal symptoms that include dystonia, akathisia (motor restlessness), Parkinsonism, bradykinesia, tremor, Tourette syndrome, and tardive dyskinesia that are not related to drug use or trauma. This 12th Annual Interdisciplinary Symposium will include speakers who have extensively worked with patients who have these symptoms and are presently engaged in both national and regional treatment and intervention.

One of the most debilitating neuromotor disorders affecting the nigrostriatal pathway in the midbrain is Parkinson’s disease. I have worked with many patients who have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and many who have not, but are experiencing symptoms. I believe there are so many similarities, patterns, likenesses, and familiar characteristics of these wonderful people who struggle day in and day out in parallel ways. And after spending time with others who assess, intervene and counsel these people, I feel we all have so much more to offer them. This symposium should offer insight on what these extrapyramidal systems, basal ganglias, and subthalamuses want, need and strive for.
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