Background: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is an established treatment for people with Parkinson's disease (PwP). However, some patients treated with DBS may still experience quality of life limiting impairments after surgery, e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: The lack of a rodent model for both motor and phonic tics hinders research on deep brain stimulation (DBS) for refractory Tourette syndrome (TS). Striatal disinhibition with a gamma-aminobutyric acid A antagonist (bicuculline) was previously shown to induce hyperkinesia and vocalizations in monkeys, indicating its potential as a TS model. In rats, however, only hyperkinesia was validated, prompting us to investigate whether they can also develop abnormal vocalizations and whether both conditions respond to thalamic DBS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDeep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is a therapeutic option for treatment resistant (TR) obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The OCD network comprises different sub-networks with homeostatic functions, altered under disease and modifiable with DBS. Connectomic analyses of DBS data sets have defined fiber selections explaining anti-OCD efficacy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGilles de la Tourette Syndrome (GTS) is a chronic tic disorder, characterized by unwanted motor actions and vocalizations. While brain stimulation techniques show promise in reducing tic severity, optimal target networks are not well-defined. Here, we leverage datasets from two independent deep brain stimulation (DBS) cohorts and a cohort of tic-inducing lesions to infer critical networks for treatment and occurrence of tics by mapping stimulation sites and lesions to a functional connectome derived from 1,000 healthy participants.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFStereotact Funct Neurosurg
April 2025
Introduction: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the superolateral branch of the medial forebrain bundle (slMFB) is currently being researched in clinical trials and open case series as a therapeutic option for treatment-resistant major depressive disorder and treatment-resistant obsessive-compulsive disorder (TR-OCD). There are numerous publications describing stimulation in such proximity to the ventral tegmental area (VTA) and open questions remain concerning the stimulation target and its functional environment. As of right now, we are not aware of any publications that compare the typical electrode placements with the histologically supported tractographic depiction of the target structure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEfficient responses in dynamic environments rely on a combination of readiness and flexibility, regulated by anticipatory and online response control mechanisms. The latter are required when a motor response needs to be reprogrammed or when flanker stimuli induce response conflict and they are crucially modulated by anticipatory signals such as response and conflict expectations. The mutual influence and interplay of these control processes remain to be elucidated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry
March 2025
Background: Stimulation-induced dysarthria (SID) is a troublesome and potentially therapy-limiting side effect of deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). To date, the origin of SID, and especially whether there is an involvement of cerebellar pathways as well as the pyramidal tract, remains a matter of debate. Therefore, this study aims to shed light on structural networks associated with SID and to derive a data-driven model to predict SID in patients with PD and STN-DBS.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFNPJ Parkinsons Dis
April 2024
J Parkinsons Dis
April 2024
Background: Conventional deep brain stimulation (DBS) programming via trial-and-error warrants improvement to ensure swift achievement of optimal outcomes. The definition of a sweet spot for subthalamic DBS in Parkinson's disease (PD-STN-DBS) may offer such advancement.
Objective: This investigation examines the association of long-term motor outcomes with contact selection during monopolar review and different strategies for anatomically informed contact selection in a retrospective real-life cohort of PD-STN-DBS.
Frontal circuits play a critical role in motor, cognitive and affective processing, and their dysfunction may result in a variety of brain disorders. However, exactly which frontal domains mediate which (dys)functions remains largely elusive. We studied 534 deep brain stimulation electrodes implanted to treat four different brain disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the thalamus can effectively reduce tics in severely affected patients with Tourette syndrome (TS). Its effect on cortical oscillatory activity is currently unknown.
Objective: We assessed whether DBS modulates beta activity at fronto-central electrodes.
Sensors (Basel)
October 2023
Clinical rating scales for tremors have significant limitations due to low resolution, high rater dependency, and lack of applicability in outpatient settings. Reliable, quantitative approaches for assessing tremor severity are warranted, especially evaluating treatment effects, e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Stigma is significant in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, no specific tool is available to assess stigma in PD comprehensively.
Objective: This pilot study aimed to develop and test a stigma questionnaire specific to PD patients (PDStigmaQuest).
The occurrence of tics in Tourette syndrome (TS) has often been linked to impaired cognitive control, but empirical findings are still inconclusive. A recent view proposes that tics may be the result of an abnormally strong interrelation between perceptual processes and motor actions, commonly referred to as perception-action binding. The general aim of the present study was to examine proactive control and binding effects in the context of task switching in adult human patients with TS and matched healthy controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFrontal circuits play a critical role in motor, cognitive, and affective processing - and their dysfunction may result in a variety of brain disorders. However, exactly which frontal domains mediate which (dys)function remains largely elusive. Here, we study 534 deep brain stimulation electrodes implanted to treat four different brain disorders.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTreatment resistance in alcohol use disorders (AUD) is a major problem for affected individuals and for society. In the search of new treatment options, few case studies using deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the nucleus accumbens have indicated positive effects in AUD. Here we report a double-blind randomized controlled trial comparing active DBS ("DBS-EARLY ON") against sham stimulation ("DBS-LATE ON") over 6 months in n = 12 AUD inpatients.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging
March 2023
Background: Deep brain stimulation of the anterior limb of the internal capsule (ALIC)/nucleus accumbens is an effective treatment in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder but may increase impulsive behavior. We aimed to investigate how active stimulation alters subdomains of impulsive decision making and whether respective effects depend on the location of stimulation sites.
Methods: We assessed 15 participants with obsessive-compulsive disorder performing the Cambridge Gambling Task during active and inactive ALIC/nucleus accumbens deep brain stimulation.
Background: Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) is a well-established treatment for patients with Parkinson's disease. Previous acute challenge studies suggested that short pulse widths might increase the therapeutic window while maintaining motor symptom control with a decrease in energy consumption. However, only little is known about the effect of short pulse width stimulation beyond the setting of an acute challenge.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBiol Psychiatry Cogn Neurosci Neuroimaging
August 2022
Objectives: Whether treatment response in patients with Parkinson disease depends on brain atrophy is insufficiently understood. The goal of this study is to identify specific atrophy patterns associated with response to dopaminergic therapy and deep brain stimulation.
Materials And Methods: In this study, we analyzed the association of gray matter brain atrophy patterns, as identified by voxel-based morphometry, with acute response to levodopa (N = 118) and subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (N = 39).
Objectives: Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder with alterations of cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical loops and impaired performance monitoring. Electrophysiological markers such as conflict-related medial frontal theta (MFT) and error-related negativity (ERN) may be altered by clinically effective deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the anterior limb of the internal capsule and nucleus accumbens (ALIC/NAc). We hypothesized that ALIC/NAc DBS modulates electrophysiological performance monitoring markers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBrain lesions are a rare cause of tic disorders. However, they can provide uniquely causal insights into tic pathophysiology and can also inform on possible neuromodulatory therapeutic targets. Based on a systematic literature review, we identified 22 cases of tics causally attributed to brain lesions and employed 'lesion network mapping' to interrogate whether tic-inducing lesions would be associated with a common network in the average human brain.
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