Impact of Deep Brain Stimulation of the Subthalamic Nucleus on Neuropsychological Outcomes and Voxel‐Based‐Morphometric‐Analyses in Parkinson's Disease Patients

Abstract

Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a movement disorder that is characterized by tremor, rigidity, and bradykinesia, due to significant cell‐death of the dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical intervention used to treat PD patients in which stimulating electrodes are placed bilaterally, most often in the subthalamic nucleus (STN). STN‐DBS is restricted to those who respond sufficiently well to a dopaminergic medication regimen. This procedure alleviates the motor symptoms associated with PD. Historically, the majority of clinical research on STN‐DBS has focused on motor outcomes. Until recently, few studies had explored the effect of STN‐DBS on post‐surgical cognitive and memory outcomes. Moreover, the relationship between cognitive outcomes and neuroanatomical changes in PD patients with STN‐DBS is largely unknown. The goal of this study was to correlate pre‐ and post‐ surgical memory and cognitive neuropsychological outcomes with volumetric changes in relevant neuroanatomical structures before and after DBS intervention. Thus far, 11 PD patients met inclusion criteria for this Colorado Multiple Institutional Review Board (COMIRB) approved study (COMIRB 16‐1060). Voxel‐based‐morphometry of cortical and subcortical brain regions were used to assess structural changes in T1‐weighted MR. Analyzed neuropsychological measures include those from the second edition of the California Verbal Language Test (CVLT‐II). Preliminary neuropsychological analyses suggest that Standard CVLT‐II Long Delayed Free recall of List Learning decreases post surgically. Further neuropsychological and neuroanatomical analyses are ongoing. This study is relevant because it will better characterize neuroanatomical and neurofunctional changes that occur with STN‐DBS so that physicians are better prepared to support their patients after STN‐DBS. Eventually, studies like this one may lead to predictive measures which allow physicians to better screen for patients who will benefit most from DBS surgery based on neuropsychological pre‐testing.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.