Deep brain stimulation of subthalamic nucleus modulates cortical auditory processing in advanced Parkinson's Disease

PLoS One. 2022 Feb 24;17(2):e0264333. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0264333. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has proven its clinical efficacy in Parkinson's disease (PD), but its exact mechanisms and cortical effects continue to be unclear. Subthalamic (STN) DBS acutely modifies auditory evoked responses, but its long-term effect on auditory cortical processing remains ambiguous. We studied with magnetoencephalography the effect of long-term STN DBS on auditory processing in patients with advanced PD. DBS resulted in significantly increased contra-ipsilateral auditory response latency difference at ~100 ms after stimulus onset compared with preoperative state. The effect is likely due to normalization of neuronal asynchrony in the auditory pathways. The present results indicate that STN DBS in advanced PD patients has long-lasting effects on cortical areas outside those confined to motor processing. Whole-head magnetoencephalography provides a feasible tool to study motor and non-motor neural networks in PD, and to track possible changes related to cortical reorganization or plasticity induced by DBS.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Auditory Perception*
  • Deep Brain Stimulation*
  • Evoked Potentials, Auditory
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Parkinson Disease / therapy*
  • Subthalamic Nucleus*
  • Surveys and Questionnaires

Grants and funding

KV: Finnish Parkinson Foundation KV: University of Helsinki HR: grant 321460, Academy of Finland The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.