Objective: We studied brain oscillations related to DBS in a cognitive and motor task. We hypothesized that the impact of DBS on oscillations related to cognitive and motor functions might help to identify patients with suboptimal responses to STN-DBS.

Background: Adverse neuropsychiatric effects and variable degrees of motor response can complicate deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) in Parkinson’s disease (PD).

Method: High-density EEG was recorded in PD subjects (n= 18) in stimulation “off” and “on” conditions during the performance of a visual three-stimulus paradigm with non-target, target, and distractor stimuli. Pre-processed scalp data were reconstructed into the source space and the time-frequency analysis was evaluated and correlated to the behavioral parameters.

Results: Alpha and beta event-related desynchronization (ERD) was observed as the main activation correlate during target processing. The ERD time-frequency area was larger in the majority of subjects in the “on” condition, and it was related to faster or unchanged reaction times during the “on” stimulation state. We identified a subgroup of five patients with longer reaction times and smaller ERD areas in the “on” state, mainly in the alpha frequency range. These subjects had lower motor responsiveness to DBS and worse memory test results than the other subjects.

Conclusion: We identified a minority of patients with suboptimal responses to DBS. Source space analysis of scalp-recorded cerebral oscillatory activities should be studied prospectively as a potential biomarker identifying patients with less favorable responses to STN-DBS.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/analysis-of-cortical-oscillatory-activities-may-identify-a-subgroup-of-parkinsons-disease-patients-with-suboptimal-responses-to-deep-brain-stimulation-of-the-subthalamic-nucleus/