Deep Brain Stimulation can suppress pathological synchronization in parkinsonian patients

Alexandre Eusebio (1) , Wesley Thevathasan (2) , Louise Doyle Gaynor (3) , Alek Pogosyan (3) , Ed Bye (3) , Tom Foltynie (3) , Ludvic Zrinzo (3) , Keymour Ashkan (4) , Tipu Aziz (2) , Peter Brown (5)

1 TIMONE - Hôpital de la Timone [CHU - APHM]
2 University of Oxford
3 UCL - University College of London [London]
4 Kings College Hospital
5 AOPP - Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics [Oxford]

Although deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is a highly effective therapeutic intervention in severe Parkinson's disease, its mechanism of action remains unclear. One possibility is that DBS suppresses local pathologically synchronized oscillatory activity. To explore this we recorded from DBS electrodes implanted in the STN of 16 patients with Parkinson's disease during simultaneous stimulation (pulse-width 60µs; frequency 130 Hz) of the same target using a specially designed amplifier. We analyzed data from 25 sides and found that DBS progressively suppressed peaks in local field potential activity at frequencies between 11 and 30 Hz as voltage was increased beyond a stimulation threshold of 1.5 V. Median peak power had fallen to 54 % of baseline values by a stimulation intensity of 3.0 V. The findings suggest that DBS can suppress pathological 11-30 Hz activity in the vicinity of stimulation in patients with Parkinson's disease. This suppression occurs at stimulation voltages that are clinically effective.

Mots clés: ELECTRICAL STIMULATION; MOTOR PHYSIOLOGY; MOVEMENT DISORDERS; NEUROPHYSIOLOGY; MOTOR; PARKINSON'S DISEASE

Alexandre Eusebio, Wesley Thevathasan, Louise Doyle Gaynor, Alek Pogosyan, Ed Bye, et al.. Deep Brain Stimulation can suppress pathological synchronization in parkinsonian patients. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, 2010, 82 (5), pp.569. ⟨10.1136/jnnp.2010.217489⟩. ⟨hal-00585779⟩