NeuroNetwork 7

Parkinson disease is the second most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder, and affects many people across the world, including in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. In this disease, dopaminergic neurons in the basal ganglia are particularly affected---and this leads to various pathologic changes in the firing pattern. This abnormal activity is thought to lead to the main sympoms, which include resting tremor, rigidity, bradykinesia and postural instability.

In the last two decades, deep brain stimulation of the basal ganglia has developed into a widespread treatment for Parkinson disease, especially for advanced cases. However, the mechanisms of this treatment remain only partly understood, and furthermore, the classical fixed-frequency stimulation remains the only stimulation paradigm in clinical use. We will investigate stochastic and closed-loop stimulation, using optical imaging methods to record brain oscillations which are otherwise masked by the electrical stimulus. We will also pair this with clinical study of electrical activity patterns in human patients, during implantation operations. Through these studies, we hope to contribute to the understanding and the refinement of this increasingly important treatment method.