Movement Disorders

At UT Southwestern Medical Center, patients with movement disorders have access to specialists across the full range of medical, surgical, and support services – all working together to coordinate treatment strategies and offer the best possible results.

The UT Southwestern Movement Disorders Program is a major regional referral center for diagnosing and treating movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. Over the past 20 years, our physicians have built an extraordinary level of expertise in pinpointing the underlying causes of movement disorders and providing comprehensive, individualized care to treat them.

Comprehensive Care Fueled by Leading Research

Movement disorders affect the speed, fluency, quality, and ease of movement. They can result in excessive or slowed movements.

Our team at UT Southwestern handles more than 4,000 patient visits a year, offering state-of-the-art care for a wide range of movement disorders, such as:

• Ataxia and cerebellar disorders
• Dystonia
• Huntington’s disease
• Multiple system atrophy (MSA)
• Parkinson’s disease
• Progressive supranulcear palsy (PSP)
• Essential tremor

Our Services for Movement Disorders

The UT Southwestern Movement Disorders team includes fellowship-trained neurologists, neurosurgeons, advanced practice professionals, and other health care professionals with specific expertise in these neurological disorders.

UT Southwestern offers patients with movement disorders:

• Access to clinical research programs and investigational drugs
• Botulinum toxin treatments
• The latest diagnostic imaging approaches
• Information and support for family members
• Physical, speech, and occupational therapy
• Nutrition counseling
• Mental health support
• The latest medical therapies
• Deep brain stimulation (DBS)
• High-frequency ultrasound treatment of tremor

Rehabilitation

Our rehabilitation specialists provide compassionate, individualized therapies that can help ease symptoms and slow the progression of many movement disorders.

Our rehabilitation team includes nurses, neuropsychologists, psychologists, and occupational, physical, recreational, and speech therapists, so that patients benefit from a comprehensive program that addresses all aspects of their disease. Our exercise and rehabilitation program enables patients to continue participating in activities at work, at home, and in their community.

Our specialists also work diligently with family members, offering psychological counseling, support groups, educational programs, and other services.

Clinical Trials

As a world-class academic medical center, UT Southwestern offers patients with movement disorders unique access to research, clinical trials, and new therapies – often before they’re available at other hospitals.

Our Movement Disorders team has led extensive research programs to investigate the genetic and other contributing factors of movement disorders. This includes several long-term National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded trials designed to identify neuroprotective agents for Parkinson's disease.