Tremor-correlated spike activity in Parkinson's disease detected in a distributed subthalamic network

Introduction: There is clinical and neurophysiological evidence for the involvement of the basal ganglia in the pathogenesis of Parkinsonian tremor. The aim of this study was to investigate the relation between tremor and spike activity in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) of patients with Parkinson's disease. Methods: Data was obtained during stereotactic surgery on patients with tremor-dominant Parkinson's disease. Surface EMG was recorded from the wrist flexors and extensors. Simultaneously, neuronal spike activity was registered in different depths of the STN using an array of five microelectrodes. Wavelet-based…