Beta wave mapping in the human subthalamic nucleus and its correlation with the position of implanted electrodes in people with Parkinson's disease

Background: Different deep cerebral nuclei oscillate at detectable frequencies (theta/delta, alpha, beta, or gamma). It has recently been shown that the synchronized activity of some of them strongly correlates with the symptoms of the disease. In the case of people with advanced Parkinson's, it is known that the presence of beta wave in the region dorsolateral (motor) of this nucleus is related to the symptoms of rigidity and bradykinesia. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy manages to improve these symptoms through the inhibition of the aforementioned signal. It is not yet known if the beta wave can be an independent biological marker as a "functional guide" that serves in the implantation of deep brain electrodes.

Objective: to build a beta wave map for the human subthalamic nucleus and correlate it with the anatomical guide that is currently used for the implantation of brain electrodes. Knowing if the beta synchronization in the subthalamic nucleus of Parkinson's patients completely correlates (or not) with the image anatomy of the nucleus can help to understand that both modalities (signal and images) are important to isolate the boundaries of the subthalamus in the human, and therefore guide the implantation surgery of deep electrodes.

Methodology: The student will need to assist to the neurosurgery operating room and familiarize with the recording system of brain signals. To analyse these signals, different steps will be done, including registration, filtering and Fourier transformation for their isolation. The software Lead-OR (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9177150/) will be used for signal and image co-registration, with the aim of creating a combined and useful map in clinical practice.

This project will be done in Hospital Sant Pau in the Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery Neuro-Oncology group