Balance between pallidal neural oscillations correlated with dystonic activity and severity

The balance between neural oscillations provides valuable insights into the organisation of neural oscillations related to brain states, which may play important roles in dystonia. We aim to investigate the relationship of the balance in the globus pallidus internus (GPi) with the dystonic severity under different muscular contraction conditions.

Twenty-one patients with dystonia were recruited. All of them underwent bilateral GPi implantation, and local field potentials (LFPs) from the GPi were recorded via simultaneous surface electromyography. The power spectral ratio between neural oscillations was computed as the measure of neural balance. This ratio was calculated under high and low dystonic muscular contraction conditions, and its correlation with the dystonic severity was assessed using clinical scores.

The power spectral of the pallidal LFPs peaked in the theta and alpha bands. Within participant comparison showed that the power spectral of the theta oscillations significantly increased during high muscle contraction compared with that during low contraction. The power spectral ratios between the theta and alpha, theta and low beta, and theta and high gamma oscillations were significantly higher during high contraction than during low contraction. The total score and motor score were associated with the power spectral ratio between the low and high beta oscillations, which was correlated with the dystonic severity both during high and low contractions. The power spectral ratios between the low beta and low gamma and between the low beta and high gamma oscillations showed a significantly positive correlation with the total score during both high and low contractions; a correlation with the motor scale score was found only during high contraction. Meanwhile, the power spectral ratio between the theta and alpha oscillations during low contraction showed a significantly negative correlation with the total score. The power spectral ratios between the alpha and high beta, alpha and low gamma, and alpha and high gamma oscillations were significantly correlated with the dystonic severity only during low contraction.

The balance between neural oscillations, as quantified by the power ratio between specific frequency bands, differed between the high and low muscular contraction conditions and was correlated with the dystonic severity. The balance between the low and high beta oscillations was correlated with the dystonic severity during both conditions, making this parameter a new possible biomarker for closed-loop deep brain stimulation in patients with dystonia.