Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is currently being used to treat patients with disabling, medically unresponsive tremor due to essential tremor or Parkinson’s disease. It has also been shown to help alleviate other Parkinsonian symptoms, such as rigidity, bradykinesia, and akinesia, as well as dystonia. In addition, DBS is being evaluated for the treatment of various neurologic and psychiatric disorders, such as epilepsy, Tourette syndrome, and obsessive-compusive disorder.
In collaboration with the Neurosurgery Department, we have the unique opportunity to directly measure single cell activation in relation to action control. We record single cell activity and cognitive performance in patients undergoing the electrode implantation that will be used for their deep brain stimulation.