1. Modulation of Cerebellar Oscillations with Subthalamic Stimulation in Patients with Parkinson's Disease.
- Author
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Bosch, Taylor J., Cole, Rachel C., Vuong, Shawn M., Flouty, Oliver, and Singh, Arun
- Subjects
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DEEP brain stimulation , *BRAIN waves , *SUBTHALAMIC nucleus , *PARKINSON'S disease , *CEREBELLAR nuclei - Abstract
Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) targeting the subthalamic nucleus (STN) has emerged as a potent treatment for alleviating motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD). Despite its effectiveness, the impact of high frequency STN-DBS on cerebellar oscillations remains unclear, posing an intriguing challenge for neural modulation. Given the direct and indirect connections between the STN and cerebellum, we investigated whether STN-DBS affects cerebellar oscillations. Objective: To observe the effects of STN-DBS on cerebellar oscillations in patients with PD. Methods: We recruited 15 PD patients receiving STN-DBS. Electroencephalographic (EEG) signals were recorded from cerebellar regions during resting-state conditions in both the OFF-DBS and STN-DBS conditions. Our analyses centered on spectral features, particularly theta and beta oscillations, guided by prior research and correlation tests to investigate the relationship between oscillatory changes and motor symptom severity. Results: In the mid-cerebellar (Cbz) region, we observed a significant increase in the relative power in all frequency bands, including theta and beta oscillations during STN-DBS, showing the global effect of DBS. Importantly, the correlation results indicated significant associations between mid-cerebellar (Cbz) beta power during the OFF condition and motor severity, which were not evident during STN-DBS. Interestingly, correlations between beta power and motor severity were not observed at the mid-occipital (Oz) and mid-frontal (Cz) regions. Notably, signal similarity analyses demonstrated no evidence of volume conduction effects between the mid-cerebellar (Cbz) and nearby mid-occipital (Oz) regions. Conclusions: While these findings provide valuable insights into the complex interplay between STN-DBS and neural oscillations, further research is essential to decipher their precise functional significance and clinical implications. Understanding these intricacies may contribute to the optimization of DBS therapies for PD. Plain Language Summary: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is an effective treatment for reducing motor symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, its effects on brain activity, specifically in the cerebellum, are not well understood. This study aimed to investigate how STN-DBS affects cerebellar brain waves in PD patients. We recruited 15 PD patients undergoing STN-DBS and recorded their brain activity including cerebellar region using EEG. We compared the brain wave patterns during periods when the DBS was turned OFF and when it was turned ON, focusing on specific brain wave frequencies (theta and beta). The results showed a significant increase in brain wave power across all frequencies in the mid-cerebellar region during STN-DBS. Additionally, there was a strong link between beta power in the cerebellum and motor symptom severity when DBS was OFF, which was not present when DBS was ON. This relationship was specific to the cerebellum and not found in other brain regions. The findings suggest that STN-DBS significantly alters cerebellar brain activity and that these changes are related to improvements in motor symptoms. However, more research is needed to fully understand the functional significance and potential clinical applications of these findings for optimizing DBS treatment in PD patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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