Investigator:
Yuxiao Ning, PhD
Name of Institution:
The Regents of the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Project Title:
Multiregional neural population dynamics in Parkinson’s disease and during directional deep brain stimulation
Investigator Bio:
Dr. Ning is a post-doctoral associate in the Neuromodulation Research Center at the University of Minnesota. She completed her doctoral studies under the mentorship of Dr. Shaomin Zhang at Zhejiang University. Her doctoral studies focused on the coding schemes of the motor cortex by leveraging brain-machine interfaces and advanced computational methods.
Currently, Dr. Ning is working under the guidance of Dr. Jerrold Vitek, concentrating on understanding the pathological mechanisms of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and the therapeutic mechanisms of its treatments. By integrating large-scale neural recording and cutting-edge machine learning techniques, she aims to provide novel, comprehensive insights into PD and its treatments.
Objective:
To understand how PD disrupts the basal ganglia thalamocortical (BGTC) circuitry and how deep brain stimulation (DBS) corrects these disruptions
Background:
PD impairs the brain’s BGTC network, which controls movement and cognition. While DBS in certain brain regions, like the subthalamic nucleus, can improve PD symptoms, we don’t fully understand how this therapy works for many and why it does not work for others
Methods/Design:
In this study, we will simultaneously record neuronal activity across multiple regions of the BGTC network in a non-human primate model of PD. We will use advanced machine learning techniques to analyze these large neural dataset recordings in PD without DBS and with DBS, targeted at different brain subregions.
This comprehensive investigation across the BGTC network aims to reveal the underlying mechanisms disrupting movement and cognition in PD in neural populations that are not typically investigated with traditional recording and analytical methods. It will also elucidate how various DBS therapies restore function across the network.
Relevance to Diagnosis/Treatment of Parkinson’s Disease:
This project, incorporating recording and stimulation at multiple critical nodal points within the BGTC network, will provide systematic and comprehensive information, while allowing for novel insights into the pathophysiology of PD and the mechanisms of DBS. These insights could improve DBS planning and programming, leading to better current therapies and the development of new, more effective treatments.