Dynamics of cortico-subthalamic neuronal patterns during dyskinesia in Parkinson’s disease

People with Parkinson’s disease suffer from levodopa-induced dyskinesia, adversely to chronic dopaminergic medication. These involuntary movements affect quality of life and are linked to lowered motor inhibition in the cortico-basal-ganglia motor network during hyperdopaminergic states. Several cortical and subcortical spectral biomarkers are associated with dyskinesia, but the oscillatory patterns associated with the behavioral complexity of involuntary movement and voluntary movement suppression that defines dyskinesia, is not studied so far. To elucidate these spatio-temporal dynamics and its behavioral relevance, we studied cortico-subthalamic oscillations in 21 Parkinson’s patients during a dyskinesia-provoking experiment. We differentiated between non-dyskinetic and dyskinetic periods, and split data based on a kinematic movement registration, leading to respectively resting states and voluntary movement, and active movement suppression and dyskinetic movement. Elevated theta-activity and attenuated beta-activity was found in the subthalamic nucleus during voluntary movement suppression within dyskinetic periods, while cortico-subthalamic gamma-activity was only elevated during dyskinetic movement presence. Subthalamic spectral changes significantly predicted dyskinesia presence, and the amount of registered movement significantly affected the predictive value of dyskinesia predictions. We propose a dyskinetic macrostate to consist of distinct behavioral microstates of dyskinetic movements versus movement suppression, both associated with distinct oscillations in the cortico-subthalamic motor network.