Local field potential recordings in deep brain stimulation patients

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an invasive neuromodulation method in which stimulating electrodes are chronically implanted in the brain to deliver a continuous train of electrical pulses. DBS is now routinely used to treat a range of neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and essential tremor and is beginning to be used to treat some psychiatric disorders such as obsessive compulsive disorder and major depression. DBS is effective in all these patients groups and is growing in popularity with 10,000 new patients being implanted each year. However, there remain a number of key challenges in the DBS field: 1) Despite more than 30 years of clinical use, we still do not fully understand how DBS works. 2) Nor do we have an effective objective measure to determine if each individual patient is receiving the optimal stimulation parameters. The aim of this project is to make intra-operative local field potential (LFP) recordings in DBS patients in response to different stimulation patterns (i.e. different electrode contacts, different pulse shapes). The long-term goal is to interpret these recordings by linking them to clinical behavioral outcomes. This will improve our understanding of how DBS works and how we can optimize stimulation parameters to improve clinical outcomes. Ultimately, project outcomes will advance our knowledge of how the brain responds to DBS.