The significance of oscillations that characterize the subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson's disease is still under debate. Here, we analysed the spectral and spatial characteristics of 314 microelectrode trajectories from 128 patients undergoing subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation surgery for Parkinson's disease. We correlated the subthalamic nucleus pathophysiology with the outcome of surgery, as evaluated by the third section of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (motor score), which was subdivided into tremor, rigidity, limb-bradykinesia and axial-bradykinesia subscores. beta-oscillatory activity (13-30 Hz) comprised a continuous stretch within the subthalamic nucleus, and was limited to a distinctly-bounded dorsolateral oscillatory region. Although less consistent and more sporadic, low-frequency (3-7 Hz) power was also increased in the dorsolateral oscillatory region. In contrast, the more ventral subthalamic nucleus was characterized by consistently reduced beta and increased gamma (30-100 Hz) activity. Neuronal responses to passive arm movement (analysed by their alignment to goniometer tracing of the joints' angular displacement) were significantly more common in the dorsolateral oscillatory region than the ventral subthalamic nucleus region (62 versus 25% of sites tested respectively, P
The significance of oscillations that characterize the subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson's disease is still under debate. Here, we analysed the spectral and spatial characteristics of 314 microelectrode trajectories from 128 patients undergoing subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation surgery for Parkinson's disease. We correlated the subthalamic nucleus pathophysiology with the outcome of surgery, as evaluated by the third section of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (motor score), which was subdivided into tremor, rigidity, limb-bradykinesia and axial-bradykinesia subscores. beta-oscillatory activity (13-30 Hz) comprised a continuous stretch within the subthalamic nucleus, and was limited to a distinctly-bounded dorsolateral oscillatory region. Although less consistent and more sporadic, low-frequency (3-7 Hz) power was also increased in the dorsolateral oscillatory region. In contrast, the more ventral subthalamic nucleus was characterized by consistently reduced beta and increased gamma (30-100 Hz) activity. Neuronal responses to passive arm movement (analysed by their alignment to goniometer tracing of the joints' angular displacement) were significantly more common in the dorsolateral oscillatory region than the ventral subthalamic nucleus region (62 versus 25% of sites tested respectively, P