Joshua Aman, Ph.D., post-doctoral research associate in the Human Sensorimotor Control Laboratory (HSCL), served as lead author of, “Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation improves somatosensory perception in Parkinson’s disease.” This research sparked Aman’s interest early on and was his dissertation project as a doctoral student. His research offers the first evidence that subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) improves haptic precision. This also indicates that somatosensory function is improved by STN-DBS and may be the catalyst behind improved motor function.
The article is set to publish in Movement Disorders, which has has an impact factor of 4.558 and ranks 23rd among 191 clinical neurology journals. Further, its Eigenfactor is ranked eighth among all clinical neurology journals.

Co-authors include senior author, Jürgen Konczak, Ph.D., professor of kinesiology and director of the HSCL, Aviva Abosch M.D., Ph.D., neurosurgeon at University of Colorado-Denver, Maggie Bebler, R.N., N.P., at the University of Minnesota Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, and Chia-hou Lu, Ph.D., School of Kinesiology doctoral graduate and post-doc at the University of Minnesota Department of Neurology.