Elsevier

Brain Stimulation

Volume 13, Issue 6, November–December 2020, Pages 1784-1792
Brain Stimulation

Neuromodulation effects of deep brain stimulation on beta rhythm: A longitudinal local field potential study

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.brs.2020.09.027Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • DBS suppresses beta activity but the suppression effect gradually attenuates.

  • The beta suppression does not habituate after short-term repeated stimulation.

  • Spontaneous beta band power did not show significant changes after chronic stimulation.

  • Chronic clinical improvement is related to the modulation of low beta band.

Abstract

Background

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) holds great promise in treating various brain diseases but its chronic therapeutic mechanisms are unclear.

Objective

To explore the immediate and chronic effects of DBS on brain oscillations, and understand how different sub-bands of oscillations may be related to symptom improvement in Parkinson's patients.

Methods

We carried out a longitudinal study to examine the effects of DBS on local field potentials recorded by sensing-enabled neurostimulators in the subthalamic nuclei of Parkinson's patients, using a novel block-design stimulation paradigm.

Results

DBS significantly suppressed beta activity (13–35Hz) but the suppression effect appeared to gradually attenuate during a 6-month follow-up period after surgery (p = 0.002). However, beta suppression did not attenuate after repeated stimulation over several minutes (p > 0.110), suggesting that the changes in beta suppression may reflect a slow reconfiguration of neural pathways instead of habituation. Suppression of beta was also associated with clinical symptom improvement across subjects. Importantly, symptom-relevant features fell within the high beta band at month 1 but shifted to the low beta band at month 6, indicating that the high beta and the low beta oscillations may play different functional roles and respond differently to stimulation over the long-term treatment.

Conclusion

These data may advance understanding of chronic DBS effects on beta oscillations and their association with clinical improvement, offering novel insights to the therapeutic mechanisms of DBS.

Keywords

Deep brain stimulation
Beta oscillation
Parkinson's disease
Subthalamic nucleus
Basal ganglia
Chronic effects

Abbreviations

DBS
deep brain stimulation
LFP
local field potential
PSD
power spectral density
STN
subthalamic nucleus
TEED
total electrical energy delivered
UPDRS
Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale

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