Department of Neurology
Mentor: Jing Wang, Ph.D., Department of Neurology
Project: Cortical coordinated reset stimulation for the treatment of motor signs in Parkinson’s disease
Dr. Zheng’s research aims to establish cortical coordinated reset (CR) stimulation as a less invasive alternative to traditional high-frequency deep brain stimulation (DBS) for Parkinson’s disease (PD). CR stimulation, which delivers low-intensity, alternating bursts to disrupt pathological neuronal synchrony, has already demonstrated both acute and sustained therapeutic effects in subthalamic nucleus (STN) DBS. This project applies CR stimulation to the primary motor and premotor cortices via subdural electrocorticography (ECoG) arrays to assess both acute and long-term motor improvements in Parkinsonian non-human primates, along with in-depth analyses of neuronal synchrony dynamics across the basal ganglia-thalamocortical (BGTC) network by integrating neural recordings from implanted STN DBS leads. The research outcomes could advance the development of minimally invasive neuromodulation strategies for PD and provide critical insights into the mechanisms by which cortical CR stimulation modulates the BGTC network. The findings also lay the groundwork for future development of non-invasive neuromodulation approaches.
