Dopamine-dependent scaling of subthalamic gamma bursts with movement velocity in patients with Parkinson’s disease

Gamma synchronization increases during movement and scales with kinematic parameters. Here, disease-specific characteristics of this synchronization and the dopamine-dependence of its scaling in Parkinson’s disease are investigated. In 16 patients undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery, movements of different velocities revealed that subthalamic gamma power peaked in the sensorimotor part of the subthalamic nucleus, correlated positively with maximal velocity and negatively with symptom severity. These effects relied on movement-related bursts of transient synchrony in the gamma band. The gamma burst rate highly correlated with averaged power, increased gradually with larger movements and correlated with symptom severity. In the dopamine-depleted state, gamma power and burst rate significantly decreased, particularly when peak velocity was slower than ON medication. Burst amplitude and duration were unaffected by the medication state. We propose that insufficient recruitment of fast gamma bursts during movement may underlie bradykinesia as one of the cardinal symptoms in Parkinson’s disease.