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Updated: Dec 24, 2025
A Novel Approach to Assess Motor Outcome of Deep Brain Stimulation Effects in the Hemiparkinsonian Rat: Staircase and Cylinder Test
Published on: May 31, 2016
Latency of subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation-evoked cortical activity as a potential biomarker for
Zachary T Irwin1, Mohammad Z Awad2, Christopher L Gonzalez1
1Department of Neurology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Objective:
Here, we investigate whether cortical activation predicts motor side effects of deep brain stimulation (DBS) and whether these potential biomarkers have utility under general anesthesia.
Methods:
We recorded scalp potentials elicited by DBS during surgery (n = 11), both awake and under general anesthesia, and in an independent ambulatory cohort (n = 8). Across a range of stimulus configurations, we measured the amplitude and timing of short- and long-latency response components and linked them to motor side effects.
Results:
Regardless of anesthesia state, in both cohorts, DBS settings with capsular side effects elicited early responses with peak latencies clustering at <1 ms. This early response was preserved under anesthesia in all participants (11/11). In contrast, the long-latency components were suppressed completely in 6/11 participants. Finally, the latency of the earliest response could predict the presence of postoperative motor side effects both awake and under general anesthesia (84.8% and 75.8% accuracy, awake and under anesthesia, respectively).
Conclusion:
DBS elicits short-latency cortical activation, both awake and under general anesthesia, which appears to reveal interactions between the stimulus and the corticospinal tract.
Significance:
Short-latency evoked cortical activity can potentially be used to aid both DBS lead placement and post-operative programming.
