Deep brain stimulation in the globus pallidus modulates pallidal and subthalamic neural oscillations.

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the basal ganglia has been introduced to treat movement disorders. The effects of pallidal DBS on the neural oscillations in the globus pallidus interna (GPi) and the subthalamic nucleus (STN) of the same subject remains unclear. In this study, the DBS electrodes were bilaterally implanted in the GPi and STN in patients with Tourette's syndrome (TS). The local field potentials were simultaneously recorded from the GPi and STN during pallidal DBS with 130 Hz, 60 microseconds, and 1V/2V/2.5V voltages. The time-frequency characteristics were analyzed across the conditions of resting, stimulation and post-stimulation. The results showed that alpha and beta oscillation existed in the basal ganglia and the beta oscillation was attenuated by pallidal stimulation. The attenuations are significantly different among 1V/2V/2.5V voltages. The results suggest that beta oscillations may have physiological function in resisting tics in TS. Thus, the oscillation- and symptom-guided intelligent DBS needs to be investigated.