抄録
The STN is a target for deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the treatment of Parkinson's disease. DBS effects are likely to be a mixture of multiple effects, affecting both axons and somata within the STN. We here report on experiments studying the effect of stimulation on the activity of neurons within the STN. Two monkeys received two chronic recording chambers each. The two chambers were directed at the same STN. One of them was used to carry out electrical stimulation of the STN with a microelectrode (using monophasic stimulation at 1/s, pulse width 50 μs, amplitude 50–300 μA), and the other to simultaneously record the neuronal activity in STN with standard extracellular single-unit recording techniques. Many STN neurons responded to the stimulation with a cessation of activity, starting immediately after the stimulation and lasting for 20–70 ms. The inhibition was followed by an excitation in some neurons. STN neurons remote from the stimulation site as well as those adjacent to the stimulation site ceased to fire. Prominent suppressive effects on the activity of neurons throughout the STN would result from the electrical stimulation of the STN. Given the high frequency of therapeutic DBS (130 Hz), it is unlikely that the excitatory STN output will manifest itself. The inhibitory responses may be the consequence of activation of GPe axons which then would inhibit STN neurons. [J Physiol Sci. 2007;57 Suppl:S162]
