In a recent study published in The Journal of Neuroscience, a team of UF neuroscientists and biomedical engineers compared beta dynamics in two Parkinson’s disease deep brain stimulation (DBS) targets — the subthalamic nucleus and globus pallidus internus.
They found that beta power in the globus pallidus internus is larger, modulates more with movement and relates more to clinical impairment than the subthalamic nucleus.
The results of the new study will be used to guide the design of next-generation DBS approaches that can simultaneously sense abnormal brain activity and stimulate the brain to improve Parkinson’s disease symptoms for patients.
The study was led by Aysegul Gunduz, Ph.D., an associate professor in the J. Crayton Pruitt Family Department of Biomedical Engineering and principal investigator of the UF Brain Mapping Laboratory; Robert S. Eisinger, an M.D.-Ph.D. student in the department of neuroscience; Michael S. Okun, M.D., executive director of the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at UF Health and chair of the department of neurology; and Kelly D. Foote, M.D., co-director of the Norman Fixel Institute for Neurological Diseases at UF Health and a professor of neurosurgery.