MORE | Summer 2022

Correlations Between Deep Brain Stimulation of the Subthalamic Nucleus, Blood Flow, Oxygenation, and Neural Activity

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a method of neuromodulation in which implanted electrodes produce electrical impulses for the treatment of neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease (PD), epilepsy, and dystonia. DBS of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is the method of interest for this research due to its success in human subjects. Although the efficacy of DBS as a treatment for motor control disorders is widely accepted, the metabolic mechanism of the treatment is debated among researchers. This research will analyze three cortical measurements — blood flow, oxygenation, and neural activity — on a single platform to analyze the correlation between STN-DBS stimulation and metabolic changes in the cortex.