Low and high-frequency somatosensory evoked potentials recorded from the human pedunculopontine nucleus.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the generators of the somatosensory evoked potential (SEP) components recorded from the Pedunculopontine Tegmental nucleus (PPTg).


METHODS
Twenty-two patients, suffering from Parkinson's disease (PD), underwent electrode implantation in the PPTg area for deep brain stimulation (DBS). SEPs were recorded from the DBS electrode contacts to median nerve stimulation.


RESULTS
SEPs recorded from the PPTg electrode contacts could be classified in 3 types, according to their waveforms. (1) The biphasic potential showed a positive peak (P16) whose latency (16.05 ± 0.61 ms) shifted of 0.18 ± 0.07 ms from the lower to the upper contact of the electrode. (2) The triphasic potential showed an initial positive peak (P15) whose latency (15.4 ± 0.2 ms) did not change across the DBS electrode contacts. (3) In the last SEP configuration (mixed biphasic and triphasic waveform), the positive peak was bifid including both the P15 and P16 potentials.


CONCLUSIONS
While the P16 potential is probably generated by the somatosensory volley travelling along the medial lemniscus, the P15 response represents a far-field potential probably generated at the cuneate nucleus level.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results show the physiological meaning of the somatosensory responses recorded from the PPTg nucleus area.
Unità Operativa di Neurofisiopatologia, CTO, Via S. Nemesio 21, 00145 Rome, Italy. Electronic address: angelo.insola@virgilio.it.
Angelo
A
Insola
Istituto di Neurologia, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Rome, Italy; Fondazione Don Carlo Gnocchi Onlus, Milan, Italy.
Luca
L
Padua
Unità Operativa di Neurochirurgia funzionale e stereotassica, CTO, Via S. Nemesio 21, 00145 Rome, Italy.
Paolo
P
Mazzone
Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche e Biotecnologiche Applicate, Università dell'Aquila, L'Aquila, Italy.
Eugenio
E
Scarnati
Divisione di Neurologia, Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, IRCCS, Roma, Italy; Center for Sensory-Motor Interaction, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark.
Massimiliano
M
Valeriani
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005073:Evoked Potentials, Somatosensory; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008475:Median Nerve / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D045042:Pedunculopontine Tegmental Nucleus / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*
Cuneate nucleus; Deep brain stimulation; High frequency oscillations; Medial lemniscus; PPTg; Somatosensory evoked potential