Effect of Deep Brain Stimulation on Parkinsonian Tremor

Published: August 27, 2001 | Version: 1.0.0

Standard Citation

Goldberger, A., Amaral, L., Glass, L., Hausdorff, J., Ivanov, P.C., Mark, R., ... & Stanley, H.E. (2000).

PhysioBank, PhysioToolkit, and PhysioNet: Components of a new research resource for complex physiologic signals.

Circulation [Online]. 101(23), pp. e215–e220.

Data Description

This database contains rest tremor velocity recordings of the index finger from 16 subjects with Parkinson's disease (PD) who underwent deep brain stimulation (DBS) at one of three targets:

Vim: Ventro-intermediate nucleus of the thalamus (n = 3)
GPi: Internal Globus Pallidus (n = 7)
STN: Subthalamic Nucleus (n = 6)

DBS delivers high-frequency stimulation (>100 Hz) to relieve Parkinsonian symptoms such as tremor, rigidity, and dyskinesia.

Experimental Setup

Recording method: Laser velocity transducer directed at the fingertip.
Testing conditions:
- Two DBS conditions: On and Off
- Two Medication conditions: On (150% morning dose) and Off (≥12 hours off meds)
- 55 recordings under DBS/Medication conditions (~60 seconds each)
- 46 recordings during DBS withdrawal at 15-minute intervals
Not all subjects completed all test combinations.

Subjects

Subjects were divided into two groups:

Group 1: High Amplitude Tremor (HAT, Subjects 1–8)
Group 2: Low Amplitude Tremor (LAT, Subjects 9–16)

subject_description.txt includes:

Age, Gender
Stimulation target and side (bilateral/unilateral)
Stimulation frequencies, intensity, and pulse width
DBS surgery years and medication doses

Filename Structure

Filenames indicate experimental conditions as:

[SubjectID][TremorType][DBSCondition][(MinutesSinceDBSStop)][MedicationCondition].[SideTested]

Examples:

s6ren.let: STN subject 6, DBS on, medication on, left finger.
v4rof.rit: Vim subject 4, DBS off, medication off, right finger.
g1r30of.rit: GPi subject 1, 30 min after DBS off, medication off, right finger.

Tremor Recording Categories

Code	DBS Condition	Medication Condition	HAT recordings	LAT recordings
ren	DBS on	Medication on	5	8
ref	DBS on	Medication off	5	8
ron	DBS off	Medication on	7	8
rof	DBS off	Medication off	6	8
r15of	DBS off 15 min	Medication off	3	8
r30of	DBS off 30 min	Medication off	4	8
r45of	DBS off 45 min	Medication off	3	8
r60of	DBS off 60 min	Medication off	4	8

Total: HAT: 37 recordings | LAT: 64 recordings

Visual Examples

g2.gif: Tremor under different DBS and medication conditions.
vlaser.gif: Laser-based velocity recording setup.

Reference

Beuter, A., Titcombe, M.S., Richer, F., Gross, C., Guehl, D. (2001).

Effect of deep brain stimulation on amplitude and frequency characteristics of rest tremor in Parkinson's disease.

Thalamus & Related Systems, 1(3): 203–211.