Abstract
Background: Gait freezing is a common, disabling symptom of Parkinson's disease characterized by sudden motor arrest during walking. Adaptive deep brain stimulation devices that detect freezing and deliver real-time, symptom-specific stimulation are a potential treatment strategy. Real-time alterations in subthalamic nucleus firing patterns have been demonstrated with lower limb freezing, however, whether similar abnormal signatures occur with freezing provoked by cognitive load, is unknown. Methods: We obtained subthalamic nucleus microelectrode recordings from eight Parkinson's disease patients performing a validated virtual reality gait task, requiring responses to on-screen cognitive cues while maintaining motor output. Results: Signal analysis during 15 trials containing freezing or significant motor output slowing precipitated by dual-tasking demonstrated reduced θ frequency (3–8 Hz) firing compared to 18 unaffected trials. Conclusions: These preliminary results reveal a potential neurobiological basis for the interplay between cognitive factors and gait disturbances including freezing in Parkinson's disease, informing development of adaptive deep brain stimulation protocols.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1549-1554 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Movement Disorders |
| Volume | 38 |
| Issue number | 8 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Aug 2023 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Bibliographical note
Copyright the Author(s) 2023. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.Keywords
- Humans
- Subthalamic Nucleus/physiology
- Parkinson Disease/complications
- Gait Disorders, Neurologic/etiology
- Deep Brain Stimulation/methods
- Gait/physiology
- Cognition
- virtual reality
- Parkinson's disease
- subthalamic nucleus
- freezing of gait
- deep brain stimulation