MARK S. LEDOUX, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor

Department of Neurology

Professor

Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Director, Dystonia Clinic

Director, Movement Disorders Research Laboratories

Address

The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

415 Link Building

855 Madison Avenue

Memphis, TN 38163

Tel: (901) 448-1662; Fax: (901) 448-7440;

Education

M.D. Institution: Louisiana State University School of Medicine

Ph.D. Institution: University of Alabama, Birmingham, Department of Neuroscience

Residency Training: University of Alabama at Birmingham; University of Tennessee College of Medicine

Research Interests

Broad, long-term goals of our laboratories are to understand the pathophysiology of dystonia, mechanisms of cell death in Parkinson's disease, molecular networks that participate in sensorimotor plasticity and computational organization of motor systems. We are also interested in cranial parasympathetic neurotransmission. Three areas of recent focus are summarized below:

1. The genetically dystonic (dt) rat is autosomal recessive mutant discovered in the Sprague-Dawley strain. The dt rat exhibits a movement disorder that closely resembles the generalized dystonias seen in humans. Even with supportive measures dt rats die before 40 days-of-age. Cerebellectomy eliminates the dt rat motor syndrome. After cerebellectomy, dt rats live into adulthood and are able to mate successfully. Electrophysiological investigations in awake, anesthetized and slice preparations along with computational modeling and neuropharmacology are being used to determine the olivocerebellar defects in the dt rat and the effects of abnormal cerebellar output on motor control. Recently, we identified the causal mutation in the dt rat.



2. The neural networks mediating suprasegmental control of the blink reflex and spontaneous blinking remain poorly understood. Viral transneuronal tracing is being used to define the integrated premotor cortical and subcortical control of levator palpebrae and orbicularis oculi motoneuron activity.



3. Mutations in the gene TOR1A are associated with generalized dystonia in humans. TOR1A codes for the AAA+ protein torsinA. Via a dominant-negative effect, DYT1 mutations may impair the ability of torsinA to participate in vesicle fusion or other processes critical to sensorimotor plasticity. Current work will clarify the roles of normal and mutant torsinA in adaptive and maladaptive sensorimotor plasticity.

Clinical Subspecialty Expertise

Adult and Pediatric Movement Disorders, Botulinum Toxin for Dystonia and Spasticity

Links

Neurology - Mark S. LeDoux

UT Medical Group - Mark S. LeDoux

Recent Publications

• LeDoux MS (Ed.). Animal Models of Movement Disorders. Elsevier. 2004. ISBN: 0120883821.
• Schilling BK, Karlage RE, Ledoux MS, Pfeiffer RF, Weiss LW, Falvo MJ. Impaired leg extensor strength in individuals with Parkinson disease and relatedness to functional mobility. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2009 Jun 25; [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 19560392
• LeDoux MS. Meige syndrome: what's in a name? Parkinsonism Relat Disord. 2009 Aug;15(7):483-9. Epub 2009 May 19. Review. PMID: 19457699
• Xiao J, Bastian RW, Perlmutter JS, Racette BA, Tabbal SD, Karimi M, Paniello RC, Blitzer A, Batish SD, Wszolek ZK, Uitti RJ, Hedera P, Simon DK, Tarsy D, Truong DD, Frei KP, Pfeiffer RF, Gong S, Zhao Y, LeDoux MS. High-throughput mutational analysis of TOR1A in primary dystonia. BMC Med Genet. 2009 Mar 11;10:24. PMID: 19284587
• Dorsey ER, Beck CA, Adams M, Chadwick G, de Blieck EA, McCallum C, Briner L, Deuel L, Clarke A, Stewart R, Shoulson I; Huntington Study Group TREND-HD Investigators. Communicating clinical trial results to research participants. Arch Neurol. 2008 Dec;65(12):1590-5. PMID: 19064746
• Huntington Study Group TREND-HD Investigators. Randomized controlled trial of ethyl-eicosapentaenoic acid in Huntington disease: the TREND-HD study. Arch Neurol. 2008 Dec;65(12):1582-9. Erratum in: Arch Neurol. 2009 Mar;66(3):305. PMID: 19064745

view complete list of references (pubmed link)