Modulation of Non-Rhythmic Temporal Prediction by Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation (STN-DBS) in Parkinson's...

Accurate temporal prediction, essential for adaptive motor behavior, relies on corticobasal ganglia circuits. In Parkinson's disease (PD), both motor and non-motor functions are impaired. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) effectively alleviates motor symptoms, but its effects on non-motor domains, like temporal prediction, remain less understood.

This study aimed to investigate how STN-DBS influences temporal prediction performance and its underlying oscillatory dynamics in PD patients, with a particular focus on beta band power and delta band inter-trial phase consistency (ITPC).

Thirteen PD patients (5 female, age: 64 ± 5.7 years; disease duration: 11.8 ± 1.8 years) with STN-DBS performed a temporal prediction task with (DBS ON) and without (DBS OFF) stimulation, while 64-channel EEG was recorded. Twenty age-matched healthy controls completed the same task. Behavioral performance was assessed using psychometric functions and time-frequency analyses of electroencephalography (EEG) data on sensor and source-level examined beta power and delta ITPC.

PD patients showed impaired temporal prediction, but DBS improved performance to a level comparable with controls. EEG revealed reduced beta suppression in PD patients during DBS OFF, while beta suppression in DBS ON was comparable with controls. Both DBS OFF and ON exhibited reduced delta ITPC compared with controls. In DBS ON, source-level delta ITPC was positively correlated with temporal prediction accuracy.

STN-DBS improves temporal prediction performance in PD, likely through modulation of beta and delta oscillatory activity. However, while DBS effectively improves behavioral performance, oscillatory mechanisms underlying temporal prediction remain only partially restored. © 2026 The Author(s). Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.