A brain stimulator helps Jukka Saarela move again

A brain stimulator lets Jukka Saarela get moving with the press of a button, helping him manage Parkinson’s disease, which he was diagnosed with at 27, Yle reports.

When Saarela wakes during the night and cannot move to get out of bed, he reaches for a phone-like controller. It connects by Bluetooth to a battery in his chest and, through it, electrodes implanted in his brain. The electrodes deliver electrical pulses to the midbrain. Moments later, his muscles begin working and he can get up.

Saarela, now 38, first noticed unusual symptoms at 23. A drummer in two bands at the time, he found that he could no longer keep a steady tempo and that his right hand had stiffened. After doctors ruled out Parkinson’s more than once, he was diagnosed in December 2015, shortly after turning 27.

Parkinson’s is a central nervous system disease in which dopamine-producing brain cells gradually die. It can cause muscle stiffness, slowed movement, tremors and problems with balance. In early-onset Parkinson’s, motor symptoms begin between the ages of 21 and 45. A recent study published in Nature found that early-onset cases are increasing worldwide.

Saarela says the hardest part is how quickly his condition can change. At times he feels normal; at others he needs help. Deep brain stimulation, alongside medication, helps even out those fluctuations and reduce tremors and involuntary movements. He can also adjust the stimulation when he feels slow and stiff or his speech becomes unclear.

A few years after his diagnosis, Saarela went on disability pension from his job in child protection. He did not want to be inactive, so he built a soundproof studio in his apartment and began exploring a music career. That led to the Jurassic Parkinson art collective, which brings together musicians, friends and personal assistants to make and release songs and music videos based on his compositions and lyrics.

Saarela says having a community, goals and activities matters to him, and he hopes the collective can be an example for others. He is now married and has two school-age children. Deep brain stimulation enables him to live at home and take part in family life.