Adaptive Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson's Disease: Navigating the Roadblocks to Clinical Implementation

Adaptive deep brain stimulation (aDBS) represents an important evolution in the treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD), building on conventional DBS (cDBS) by adjusting stimulation in response to real-time physiological signals. By enabling dynamic targeting of disease-related neural activity, aDBS offers the potential for more precise modulation of motor symptoms. Additional anticipated advantages include reduced stimulation-related side effects and improved energy efficiency, supporting long-term device performance. Although clinical uptake is still at an early stage, growing experience has highlighted both opportunities and areas requiring further refinement. Key challenges include inter-individual variability in biomarker expression, diversity in programming approaches, and ongoing debate regarding optimal thresholds and response latencies. The clinical significance of short-term local field potential (LFP) recordings continues to be actively investigated, particularly in the context of signal artifacts, physiological variability, and current hardware limitations. Beyond technical considerations, factors such as patient selection, ethical frameworks, and cost-effectiveness remain important determinants of broader implementation. Continued progress will depend on the development of robust and flexible control strategies that incorporate multimodal biomarkers, including wearable-derived motor metrics and patient-reported outcomes, to support personalized therapy. With an expanding evidence base and recent regulatory approvals, aDBS is increasingly transitioning from an experimental concept to a viable clinical tool. Future efforts should prioritize the translation of research paradigms into scalable clinical workflows that effectively balance automation with individualized patient care. © 2026 The Author(s). Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.