How Subthalamic Deep Brain Stim Improves Premotor-Motor Abnormalities in PD

Subthalamic deep brain stimulation in patients with Parkinson disease normalizes aberrant signals from the basal ganglia that cause a loss of physiological premotor-motor inhibition. Writing in the journal Parkinsonism & Related Disorders, researchers reported the effect appears to be mediated by activation of subthalamic-pallidal-thalamic projection to the premotor cortex.

The finding stems from a study that involved 10 patients with Parkinson disease who received single subthalamic deep brain stimulation time-locked to transcranial magnetic dual-coil, paired-pulse stimulation of the dorsal premotor and primary motor cortex. Researchers compared premotor-motor interaction with deep brain stimulation switched off in the patients to 10 control subjects. 

Compared with controls, patients with Parkinson disease demonstrated abnormally facilitated premotor-motor interaction with deep brain stimulation switched off, researchers reported.  

Subthalamic nucleus stimulation at 3 Hz reduced the abnormal premotor-motor interaction. 

—Jolynn Tumolo

Reference:

Weissbach A, Udupa K, Ni Z, et al. Single-pulse subthalamic deep brain stimulation reduces premotor-motor facilitation in Parkinson's disease published online ahead of print August 7, 2019]. Parkinsonism Relat Disord. doi: 10.1016/j.parkreldis.2019.08.003