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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 18, 2026

Rating L-DOPA-Induced Dyskinesias in the Unilaterally 6-OHDA-Lesioned Rat Model of Parkinson's Disease

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Levodopa changes brain motor network function during ankle movements in Parkinson's disease.

Petra Schwingenschuh¹, Petra Katschnig, Margit Jehna

¹Department of Neurology, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 22, 8036, Graz, Austria.

Journal of Neural Transmission (Vienna, Austria : 1996)

|September 20, 2012

Summary

Levodopa (L-dopa) increases brain activity in the putamen and thalamus during ankle movements in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. This study highlights levodopa's impact on motor circuits in PD, unlike in healthy controls.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Movement Disorders
Pharmacology

Background:

Bradykinesia, a core Parkinson's disease (PD) symptom, affects limb movement.
Functional imaging studies on levodopa's effects primarily focus on upper limb movements, with fewer on lower limbs.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the impact of levodopa on neural activity during lower limb (ankle) movements in PD patients.
To differentiate levodopa's pharmacological effects from disease-specific changes in PD using fMRI.

Main Methods:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) at 3T was used to study 20 PD patients and 10 healthy controls (HC).
Patients were scanned in both a drug-withdrawal (OFF-state) and levodopa-administered (ON-state) condition during cued ankle movements.
Behavioral data (Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale motor score) were collected alongside fMRI.

Main Results:

Levodopa administration significantly improved motor scores in PD patients (by >20%).
fMRI revealed increased activity in the contralateral putamen and thalamus in PD patients after levodopa intake.
No significant levodopa-induced activation changes were observed in healthy controls.

Conclusions:

Levodopa enhances activity in specific subcortical structures (putamen, thalamus) during lower limb movements in PD.
These findings suggest that the putamen and thalamus are key sites of levodopa response within the cortico-subcortical motor circuit affected by nigrostriatal dysfunction.