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Controlling Parkinson's Disease With Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation
Published on: July 16, 2014
Pallidal burst activity during therapeutic deep brain stimulation
Philip J Hahn1, Gary S Russo, Taka Hashimoto
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, 9500 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA.
Experimental Neurology
|March 22, 2008
Summary
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson's disease (PD) impacts neural activity in the globus pallidus. While STN DBS alters firing and bursting rates, these changes alone don't fully explain therapeutic effects.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Neurology
- Biomedical Engineering
Background:
- Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is a therapeutic strategy for Parkinson's disease (PD).
- The precise mechanism by which STN DBS alleviates parkinsonian motor signs is debated, with hypotheses involving modulation of pallidal neural activity.
- Abnormal bursting activity in the pallidum is implicated in PD pathogenesis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the effects of effective and ineffective STN DBS on the bursting activity of globus pallidus internus (GPi) and externus (GPe) neurons.
- To determine if observed changes in neural activity correlate with motor improvements in MPTP-induced parkinsonian monkeys.
Main Methods:
- Electrophysiological recordings were performed on GPi and GPe neurons in two MPTP-treated parkinsonian monkeys.
- Neural activity was analyzed during baseline, ineffective STN DBS, and effective STN DBS conditions.
- Firing rates and bursting activity were quantified and compared across conditions.
Main Results:
- Therapeutic STN DBS significantly increased the mean firing rate in both GPe and GPi.
- Bursting activity increased significantly in the GPe but decreased significantly in the GPi during therapeutic STN DBS.
- Motor improvements were observed, but changes in GPi rate and bursting were not consistently significant across both subjects.
Conclusions:
- Modulation of firing and bursting activity in the globus pallidus contributes to the therapeutic effects of STN DBS in PD.
- However, these parameter changes alone do not fully account for the observed motor improvements, suggesting other mechanisms are involved.
- Further research is needed to elucidate the comprehensive physiological effects of STN DBS.
