Subthalamic nucleus local field potential stability in patients with Parkinson's disease

Background

Despite the large body of work on local field potentials (LFPs), a measure of oscillatory activity in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), the longitudinal evolution of LFPs is less explored.

Objective

To determine LFP fluctuations collected in clinical settings in patients with PD and STN deep brain stimulation (DBS).

Methods

Twenty-two STN-DBS patients (age: 67.6 ± 8.3 years; 9 females; disease duration: 10.3 ± 4.5 years) completed bilateral LFP recordings over three visits in the OFF-stimulation setting. Peak and band power measures were calculated from each recording.

Results

After bilateral LFP recordings, at least one peak was detected in 18 (81.8%), 20 (90.9%), and 22 (100%) patients at visit 1, 2, and 3, respectively. No significant differences were seen in primary peak amplitude (F = 2.91, p = 0.060) over time. Amplitude of the second largest peak (F = 5.49, p = 0.006) and low-beta (F = 6.89, p = 0.002), high-beta (F = 13.23, p < 0.001), and gamma (F = 12.71, p < 0.001) band power demonstrated a significant effect of time. Post hoc comparisons determined low-beta power (Visit 1–Visit 2: t = 3.59, p = 0.002; Visit 1–Visit 3: t = 2.61, p = 0.031), high-beta (Visit 1–Visit 2: t = 4.64, p < 0.001; Visit 1–Visit 3: t = 4.23, p < 0.001) and gamma band power (Visit 1–Visit 2: t = 4.65, p < 0.001; Visit 1–Visit 3: t = 4.00, p < 0.001) were significantly increased from visit 1 recordings to both follow-up visits.

Conclusion

Our results provide substantial evidence that LFP can reliably be detected across multiple real-world clinical visits in patients with STN-DBS for PD. Moreover, it provides insights on the evolution of these LFPs.