Deep brain stimulation in the subthalamic nuclei alters postural alignment and adaptation in Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease (PD) can produce postural abnormalities of the standing body position such as kyphosis. We investigated the effects of PD, deep brain stimulation (DBS) in the subthalamic nucleus (STN), vision and adaptation on body position in a well-defined group of patients with PD in quiet standing and during balance perturbations. Ten patients with PD and 25 young and 17 old control participants were recruited.

Strategic alterations of posture are delayed in Parkinson's disease patients during deep brain stimulation.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is characterized by rigidity, akinesia, postural instability and tremor. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) reduces tremor but the effects on postural instability are inconsistent. Another component of postural control is the postural strategy, traditionally referred to as the ankle or hip strategy, which is determined by the coupling between the joint motions of the body.

Spectral analysis of body movement during deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease.

Background: The characteristics of Parkinson's disease (PD) include postural instability and resting tremor. However, reductions of tremor amplitude do not always improve postural stability.

Research Question: What is the effect of deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) on spectral analysis of body movement in patients with PD when tested without anti-PD medication? The effect of visual cues was also studied.

Effects of Deep Brain Stimulation on Postural Control in Parkinson's Disease.

The standard approach to the evaluation of tremor in medical practice is subjective scoring. The objective of this study was to show that signal processing of physiological data, that are known to be altered by tremor in Parkinson's disease (PD), can quantify the postural dynamics and the effects of DBS. We measured postural control and its capacity to adapt to balance perturbations with a force platform and perturbed balance by altering visual feedback and using pseudo-random binary sequence perturbations (PRBS) of different durations.

Exploring the effects of deep brain stimulation and vision on tremor in Parkinson's disease - benefits from objective methods.

Background: Tremor is a cardinal symptom of Parkinson's disease (PD) that may cause severe disability. As such, objective methods to determine the exact characteristics of the tremor may improve the evaluation of therapy. This methodology study aims to validate the utility of two objective technical methods of recording Parkinsonian tremor and evaluate their ability to determine the effects of Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus and of vision.