The Electrocorticogram Signal Can Be Modulated With Deep Brain Stimulation of the Subthalamic Nucleus in the Hemiparkinsonian Rat

• Published in: Journal of neurophysiology Vol. 102; no. 3; pp. 1811 - 1820
• Main Authors: Lehmkuhle, M. J, Bhangoo, S. S, Kipke, D. R
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Am Phys Soc 01-09-2009; American Physiological Society
• Subjects: Animals; Biophysics - methods; Brain Mapping; Deep Brain Stimulation - methods; Disease Models, Animal; Electrodes, Implanted; Electroencephalography; Fourier Analysis; Functional Laterality - drug effects; Functional Laterality - physiology; Male; Motor Activity - physiology; Oxidopamine; Parkinsonian Disorders - chemically induced; Parkinsonian Disorders - physiopathology; Parkinsonian Disorders - therapy; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Subthalamic Nucleus - physiology
• ISSN: 0022-3077; 1522-1598
• DOI: 10.1152/jn.90844.2008

1 Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor; and 2 Neurosurgery Department, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, Michigan
Submitted 1 August 2008;
accepted in final form 15 July 2009
Abstract
Electrocorticogram (ECoG) recordings of the 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA)–lesioned parkinsonian rat have shown an increase in the power of cortical β-band (15–30 Hz) oscillations ipsilateral to the lesion. The power of these oscillations is decreased with dopamine agonist administration. Here, we demonstrate that stimulation of an electrode implanted in the subthalamic nucleus alters the power of cortical β and oscillations in 6-OHDA–lesioned animals. These alterations are dependent on stimulation frequency, charge, and amplitude/pulse width. Oscillations were significantly reduced during 200- and 350-Hz stimulation. A minimum charge of 4 nC was required to elicit a reduction in oscillation power. A number of amplitude and pulse width combinations that reached 4 nC were tested; it was found that only the combinations of 33 µA/120 µs and 65 µA/60 µs significantly reduced cortical oscillations. The reduction in β/ oscillation power due to deep brain stimulation (DBS) was consistent with a significant reduction in the animals' rotational behavior, a typical symptom of parkinsonism in the rat. A significant shift from high β to low was observed in the peak frequencies of ECoG recordings while animals were at rest versus walking on a treadmill. However, DBS exhibited no differential effect on oscillations between these two states. EEG recordings from rodent models of DBS may provide surrogate information about the neural signatures of Parkinson's disease relative to the efficacy of DBS.
Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: M. J. Lehmkuhle, Physiology Department, University of Utah, 420 Chipeta Way, Suite 1700, Salt Lake City, UT 84132 (E-mail: Mark.Lehmkuhle{at}utah.edu )