Neuronal pathways involved in deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus for treatment of parkinson’s disease

In this study, fixed potential amperometry was used to examine several pathways by which deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) or dopamine axons within the dorsal forebrain bundle (DFB) release striatal dopamine, thus potentially providing therapeutic benefits for Parkinson´s disease patients. In urethane anesthetized mice, electrical stimulations (20 monophasic pulses at 50 Hz every 30 sec) were applied to the STN or DFB while infusing the local anesthetic lidocaine (4%) into the substantia nigra compacta (SNc) or pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus (PPT). Findings suggest that DFB stimulation activates ascending SNc dopamine axons, while STN stimulation evokes striatal dopamine release directly via excitatory glutamatergic inputs to SNc dopamine cells and indirectly via excitatory cholinergic/glutamatergic STN-PPT-SNc pathways.