Distinctive neuronal firing patterns in subterritories of the subthalamic nucleus.
OBJECTIVE
Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) is an established treatment for Parkinson's disease (PD). Anatomical connectivity analyses and task-related physiological studies have divided the STN into different functional domains: sensorimotor, limbic, and associative - located in its dorsolateral (dSTN), anteroventral (vSTN) and medial territories, respectively. Targeting sensorimotor STN is essential for stimulation efficacy and is supported by intraoperative micro-electrode recordings. A different neuronal signature in microelectrode recordings across STN subterritories was explored in this study.


METHODS
Stable recordings from 30 PD patients were assigned to dSTN or vSTN by means of an anatomical method (based on fused computed tomography/magnetic resonance images) and through a priori tri-segmented partition of the recording itself. We computed the inter-spike interval (ISI) and ISI-characteristics, mean firing rate (MFR), discharge patterns and mean burst rate (MBR) of each detected single unit activity.


RESULTS
We showed a different MBR between dSTN and vSTN (1.51±0.18 vs. 1.76±0.22events/minute, Wilcoxon rank sum test, p<0.05) and a trend in the difference between their MFR (12.78 vs. 15.05Hz, Wilcoxon rank sum test, p=0.053) only with the anatomically based method.


CONCLUSIONS
Burst firing differs across STN subterritories.


CONCLUSIONS
Different functions of subthalamic domains might be reflected by distinctive burst signalling of its subterritories.
Department of Neurology of the University Hospital Wuerzburg and Julius-Maximilians-University, 97080 Wuerzburg, Germany. Electronic address: nicolo_gabriele.pozzi@stud-mail.uni-wuerzburg.de.
Nicolò G
NG
Pozzi
Department of Neurology of the University Hospital Wuerzburg and Julius-Maximilians-University, 97080 Wuerzburg, Germany.
Gabriele
G
Arnulfo
Department of Neurology of the University Hospital Wuerzburg and Julius-Maximilians-University, 97080 Wuerzburg, Germany.
Andrea
A
Canessa
Department of Neurology of the University Hospital Wuerzburg and Julius-Maximilians-University, 97080 Wuerzburg, Germany.
Frank
F
Steigerwald
Department of Neurosurgery of the University Hospital Wuerzburg and Julius-Maximilians-University, 97080 Wuerzburg, Germany.
Robert
R
Nickl
Department of Neuroradiology of the University Hospital Wuerzburg and Julius-Maximilians-University, 97080 Wuerzburg, Germany.
György A
GA
Homola
Department of Informatics, Bioengineering, Robotics and System Engineering - DIBRIS, University of Genoa, 16145 Genova, Italy.
Marco M
MM
Fato
Department of Neurosurgery of the University Hospital Wuerzburg and Julius-Maximilians-University, 97080 Wuerzburg, Germany.
Cordula
C
Matthies
Parkinson and Movement Disorder Unit, National Neurological Institute Foundation "C.Mondino", IRCCS, 27010 Pavia, Italy.
Claudio
C
Pacchetti
Department of Neurology of the University Hospital Wuerzburg and Julius-Maximilians-University, 97080 Wuerzburg, Germany.
Jens
J
Volkmann
Department of Neurology of the University Hospital Wuerzburg and Julius-Maximilians-University, 97080 Wuerzburg, Germany.
Ioannis U
IU
Isaias
D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D000368:Aged; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020531:Subthalamic Nucleus / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods
Deep brain stimulation (STN); Micro-electrode recordings (MER); Parkinson’s disease (PD); Subthalamic nucleus (STN)