Well-travelled
lapdog hints at
Roman pet trade
AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL llXl:iMltlon
lnsouthnSpailllw~the
2~Dld1'mnlinlotallpdag
thatm-.i-been bamUIMlll
of kllametnsawa,.ltsdlKIMry
tmtsat a long-distance trade In
lapdogs acrass the Ramanwarld.
Rafael Martinez SMchaz at the
UnlvmltyofGrwwdlt,SIN\mdhll
col-... found a llpdoglklllton
Nilcllna Aomln.,..,.ln
south11115plln.1twasabout
22.5 catllii•lnlltlll ............
1111d had a SlllBll slUll with large
ewm.raUw .. amodlmPllknse.
'W8lr an the dClll'Stadh shows
thatltwu.,adultthatwas
Pl'Ublblrbldwall'i 2and4,..,.
Did when It died. re... bonll found
lnlldathe ....... qgatthat
the lapdagwasafamalaandwas
pregnantwliln lhedlld.
An8lllllrslsofthe lapdag's banes
andtaethnM111ec1111atn1111Jnot
have been local. lhemban and
_,..... llotapeslnbonespruvlde
Wonutlan on the environment
an animal's food and watw '*"'
fnnn,andthe lapdag'sbonee
........ grew~drlnlling
wat.rfllrawa,framthe.Atlantk.
Thlsm...sshepnJballlV
wasn'tbam In saulienl Spain
butsomewheratatheeat.8'
Martfnez5'ndiez,peiMpslbilJ
orthe.-.m Medtt..anem.
1\Voilargerdogslutedinth•Alne
aimetwyladc8d this cMmlcal
signal and-ta hllVltbeenborn
1111dralled lacallV~
and~Sdlnces,
dDl.cqldpSg).
'Ibis animal tad a llfe
llgnlfimntly dfffwantfram that
oftheotheranlmalsfoundinth•
necropoll1/'111V1~5'ncMz.
ns UDt1cori111ns might..,. hint at
lang-cllstanmtradeof small clap
In the Roman wadd. the resnrc:hlrs
-. Buttlilsdldn'tsavehllrfroma
trlzzlr end. A fraclur8d neck bane
indlcatasn11111Jhavabeenldled
foll.owing tm owner's dRth. I
Brain implant kicks in as
Parkinson's gets worse
PEOPLE with Parkinson's
disease are getting brain
implants that can automatkally
detect and.reduce harmful
neneceilact:Mty. Resean:hen
areteating the devices t.o
see ffthey can improve the
movement difficulties that
people with the condition haw,
while reducing the side effects
the conventional fonn of this
invasive treatment can lead t.o.
Parkinson's disease causes
worseningttemon and
cliflkultles with movement,
espedallywhen initiating
actions. Medication can help,
but as symptoms progress.
somepeopl.eundergoamoie
inva.sivetreatment, called
deep brain stimulation (DBS).
This works by placing wires
into the skull that deliver a
currenttodampendownthe
ad:lvity in clusters of nerve
cells in the centre of the brain.
Unfortunately, it can cause side
effects such as speec:hdi1licult:ies
and jerky movements.
It may be possible to
minimise these side effects
by delivering stimulation only
when it is needed. known asresponsive stimu1ation. A
similar kind ofbminimplant
is aheadyusedin a few people
with severe epilepsy that is
unresponsive to medicines
orsurgeiy, t.o reduce the
excessive neive ceilac:tivity
that causes seizures. But in
peoplewithPilllcinson's, it is
Jess clear what kind ofbmin
activity causes the different
symptoms and side effects.
One llil!a of interest is the
nerve cell clusters deep in the
brain targeted by the Implants.
In most people, these centres
sometimes ftre in syncluonoua
pattema called beta waves
to signal that we should
cominue ourpresent behaviour."It promotes the status quo,"
says Peter Brown at the
UniversityofOxfcml.
JnParlcinson's, there is an
excess of beta waves, and this
coulcl explain why people with
the condition sometimes movestmdill'dlmpluts
dellverconstlnt
•lectriall ltimulatlonmoreslowlythantheywant
t.o and.have difticulties
initlatingnewmovements.
So Brown and.his colleagues
are'byingto stfmu1ate the
nerve cell cluaten only when
beta waves are detected
lheteam tried the teclmique
in13peoplewithParkinson's
who had a particu1ar problem
with moving too slowly, while
they were having surgery
under aloc:al anaesthetic
t.o replace the battery oftheir
emtingDBSbnplant. Brown's
t.eam found that the responsive
stimulation caused less speech
impairment than conventional
con.stmrt stimulation, and
it was about as effective at
combating slow movements
(bioR:xiv, doi.org/dpsf).
However, the approach might
not be suitable for everyone.
Responsive stimulation led to
the recurrence of the tremor
in two patients. T.remormaybe
caused by problems in different
nerve clusters, says Brown.
TimDenisonattheUnivenity
ofOxfmd, who wasn't involved
in the study. is trying to develop
another kind of responsive
DBS that targets the appmach.'
other mafD side effect:
involuntaryjertymovement1.
By introducing a seamcl wire
on the surface ofthe brain,
his team bas found that these
JnCJYemellts are accompanied
by another kindofbminwave,
knownasgamma waws, in an
area called the mot.or cortex.
He hopes that people could
have their DBS ac:tivitytumed
down automatically when
gamma waves are detected.
"This is where the fiekl is
heading," says Denbon. I