Dexmedetomidine depresses neuronal activity in the subthalamic nucleus during deep brain stimulation electrode...

Micro-electrode recordings are often necessary during electrode implantation for deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus. Dexmedetomidine may be a useful sedative for these procedures, but there is limited information regarding its effect on neural activity in the subthalamic nucleus and on micro-electrode recording quality.

We recorded neural activity in five patients undergoing deep brain stimulation implantation to the subthalamic nucleus. Activity was recorded after subthalamic nucleus identification while patients received dexmedetomidine sedation (loading - 1 μg kg^-1 over 10-15 min, maintenance - 0.7 μg kg^-1 h^-1). We compared the root-mean square (RMS) and beta band (13-30 Hz) oscillation power of multi-unit activity recorded by microelectrode before, during and after recovery from dexmedetomidine sedation. RMS was normalised to values recorded in the white matter.

Multi-unit activity decreased during sedation in all five patients. Mean normalised RMS decreased from 2.8 (1.5) to 1.6 (1.1) during sedation (43% drop, p = 0.056). Beta band power dropped by 48.4%, but this was not significant (p = 0.15). Normalised RMS values failed to return to baseline levels during the time allocated for the study (30 min).

In this small sample, we demonstrate that dexmedetomidine decreases neuronal firing in the subthalamic nucleus as expressed in the RMS of the multi-unit activity. As multi-unit activity is a factor in determining the subthalamic nucleus borders during micro-electrode recordings, dexmedetomidine should be used with caution for sedation during these procedures.

NCT01721460.