Parkinsonism State Uncouples Correlation Between Subthalamic Nucleus ß-Band Activity and Motor Performance

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has provided relief for many patients with medically refractory movement disorders. While the mechanisms involved are not entirely understood, studies have shown that continuous high-frequency DBS in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) or globus pallidus interna reduces the severity of the motor impairments in Parkinson's disease in both humans and monkeys. A limitation of present DBS approaches is the lack of feedback to control the stimulation and optimize the therapeutic outcome. Several studies have demonstrated the potential for closed-loop stimulation to tailor stimulation to the pathological state [3,4]. One critical question is the internal signals to use for feedback control. The goal of this study was to evaluate for potentially useful feedback signals recorded in MPTP-induced hemi-parkinsonian non-human primates trained in an arm reaching task. An emphasis was placed on spectral analysis of the extracellular local field potentials (LFPs) recorded in the STN, and the...