Balance Disorders Clinical and Research Program
The Balance Disorders Clinical and Research program looks for the causes and treatment of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, dizziness, ataxia and a number of other balance disorders.
Faculty: Sid Gilman, M.D., Kevin Kerber, M.D. and Henry Lauris Paulson, M.D., Ph.D.
Patients seen in the Balance Disorders Clinic can volunteer to be subjects in clinical research projects that include functional imaging in connection with studies of sleep disorders and heart function. These studies include patients with the diagnoses of:
- Alzheimer's disease
- dementia with Lewy bodies
- multiple system atrophy
- Parkinson's disease
- progressive supranuclear palsy
- sporadic olivopontocerebellar atrophy
Studies of sleep disorders include the following disorders and are carried out in conjunction with a PET study of neurotransmitters in the brain:
- obstructive sleep apnea
- rapid eye movement
- restless legs syndrome
- sleep behavior disorder
Studies of myocardial function involve OET imaging of the neurotransmitters in the heart along with studies of the neurotransmitters in the brain.
Other faculty members involved in these studies include:
- Larry Junck, M.D., neurologist
- Robert A. Koeppe, Ph.D., physicist
- Roderick Little, Ph.D., biostatistician
- Ronald Chervin, M.D., neurologist
- Flavia Consens, M.D., neurologist
- Bruno Giordani, Ph.D., neuropsychologist
- Carol Persad, Ph.D., neuropsychologist
