The deep brain stimulation response network in Parkinson’s disease operates in the high beta band

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus improves motor symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease. Using functional MRI, optimal DBS response networks have been characterized. However, neural activity associated with Parkinsonian symptoms is magnitudes faster than what can be resolved by this method. Although both spatial and temporal domains of these networks appear crucial, no single study has yet investigated both domains simultaneously. Here, we aimed at closing this gap by analysing electrophysiological data from a total of n = 127 hemispheres. Using subthalamic local field potentials that were recorded concurrently alongside whole-brain magnetoencephalography in a multi-centre cohort of patients who underwent subthalamic DBS for the treatment of Parkinson's disease (n = 100 hemispheres), we analysed the DBS response network in both spatial and temporal domains. In every cortical vertex, cortico-subthalamic coupling was correlated with stimulation outcomes. This network spatially resembled functional MRI-based findings (R = 0.40, P = 0.039) and explained significant amounts of variance in clinical outcomes (βstd = 0.30, P = 0.002), whereas theta-alpha and low beta coupling did not show significant associations with DBS response (theta-alpha: βstd = -0.02, P = 0.805; low beta: βstd = -0.08, P = 0.426). The 'optimal' high beta coupling map was robust when subjected to various cross-validation designs (10-fold cross-validation: R = 0.29, P = 0.009; split-half design: R = 0.31, P = 0.026) and was able to predict outcomes across DBS centres [R = 0.74; P(1) = 8.9 × 10-5]. We identified a DBS response network that resembles the previously defined MRI network and operates in the high beta band. Maximal connectivity to this network was associated with optimal DBS outcomes and was able to cross-predict clinical improvements across DBS surgeons and centres.

Source: Brain

DOI: 10.1093/brain/awaf445

Institutions: Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard University, Düsseldorf University Hospital, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Einstein Center for Neurosciences Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health at Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Massachusetts General Hospital, Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt, Mayo Clinic, German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, NeuroCure Cluster of Excellence, University Hospital Cologne

Language: English

Topic: Deep Brain Stimulation and Movement Disorders

Subfield: Clinical Neurology

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: New Venture Fund, European Commission, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Volkswagen Foundation, Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung, Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Norges Idrettshøgskole, Thiemann Stiftung, Berlin Institute of Health, National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Awards: G1673475304, G347275618, G518893957, TRR 295: Behandlung motorischer Netzwerkstörungen mittels Neuromodulation, G6382771959, G7194619933, G816297615, G860020746, An Ecosystem of Technology and Protocols for Adaptive Neuromodulation Research in Humans, Using Brain Lesions and Deep Brain Stimulation to Identify an Epilepsy Circuit, Toward Connectomic Deep Brain Stimulation in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, BRAIN CONNECTS: The center for Large-scale Imaging of Neural Circuits (LINC), Using human brain connectivity to identify the causal neuroanatomical substrate of depression symptoms

OpenAlex ID: W7128022665