Toward therapeutic electrophysiology: beta-band suppression as a biomarker in chronic local field potential recordings

Adaptive deep brain stimulation (aDBS) is a promising concept for feedback-based neurostimulation, with the potential of clinical implementation with the sensing-enabled Percept neurostimulator. We aim to characterize chronic electrophysiological activity during stimulation and to validate beta-band activity as a biomarker for bradykinesia. Subthalamic activity was recorded during stepwise stimulation amplitude increase OFF medication in 10 Parkinson's patients during rest and finger tapping. Offline analysis of wavelet-transformed beta-band activity and assessment of inter-variable relationships in linear mixed effects models were implemented. There was a stepwise suppression of low-beta activity with increasing stimulation intensity (p = 0.002). Low-beta power was negatively correlated with movement speed and predictive for velocity improvements (p < 0.001), stimulation amplitude for beta suppression (p < 0.001). Here, we characterize beta-band modulation as a chronic biomarker for motor performance. Our investigations support the use of electrophysiology in therapy optimization, providing evidence for the use of biomarker analysis for clinical aDBS.

Automated summary

Adaptive deep brain stimulation (aDBS) is a promising concept for feedback-based neurostimulation. This study aimed to characterize chronic electrophysiological activity during aDBS and validate beta-band activity as a biomarker for bradykinesia in Parkinson's patients. The results showed a suppression of low-beta activity with increasing stimulation intensity, and this activity was negatively correlated with movement speed and predicted velocity improvements.