Cortical Electrophysiology of Response Inhibition and Implications for DBS Therapy in Parkinson’s Disease Patients
The goal of this project is to define brain circuits underlying response inhibition behaviors in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) using electrophysiologic and computational modeling methods.
Patients with Parkinson’s disease may have problems with impulsivity and stopping motor actions. These behaviors can be worsened by deep brain stimulation, which is used to treat motor symptoms of PD. We will study how stopping behavior is encoded in different brain areas by measuring electrical brain wave activity. We will also test if inadvertent stimulation of non- motor brain regions is responsible for worsening of impulsivity and stopping behaviors. This may improve how deep brain stimulation devices are programmed in clinical practice to avoid negative behavioral side effects.