An investigation into the neurophysiological biomarkers of Parkinsons disease in closed loop deep brain stimulation. (360G-Wellcome-093929_Z_10_Z)

The aim of this project is investigate whether there exist improved neurophysiological biomarkers of Parkinson s disease (PD) over and above the pathological beta synchrony band already described and to examine whether these enhanced biomarkers can be used to improve treatment with deep brain stimulation (DBS) through their modulation of stimulation in a closed loop setting. Specifically, we will be making electrophysiological recordings of local field recordings (LFPs) from DBS electrodes in post surgical Parkinson s patients and then analysing these data looking for spectral interactions between different oscillatory frequency components. Once established, we will investigate whether these new biomarkers remain robust during DBS despite high voltage artefacts. We then intend to extend these new spectral analysis techniques into other clinical areas which employ DBS but for which there are not currently reliable neurophysiological biomarkers including dystonia, tourettes, chron ic pain and psychiatric disorders (depression / OCD). Our overall aim is to identify and validate these novel spectral interaction biomarkers in PD and other conditions and to use them to develop algorithms for application in a closed loop DBS setting in which stimulation is appropriately modulated according to clinical state thus improving the efficacy and tolerability of current treatment.