Background and ObjectiveMemory impairment is a frequent and debilitating symptom in neurodegenerative disorders. The objective of this study was to provide proof‐of‐principle that deep brain stimulation during sleep can modify memory consolidation in people with Parkinson's disease depending on the stimulation frequency that is applied.MethodsTwenty‐four patients with Parkinson's disease who were treated with deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus were included in this single‐blind pilot study. Six patients had to be excluded because of insomnia on the night of testing. Patients were randomized (1:1 ratio) to receiving either low frequency deep brain stimulation (4 Hz) or clinically used high frequency deep brain stimulation (130 Hz) during early non‐rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. The main outcome measure was overnight memory retention as measured by a validated declarative memory task.ResultsPatients receiving low frequency deep brain stimulation during early NREM sleep (n = 9, 4 females, mean age 61.1 ± 4.3 years) showed improved overnight memory retention (z = 2.549, P = 0.011). Patients receiving clinically used high frequency deep brain stimulation (n = 9, 2 females, mean age 62.2 ± 7.1) did not show any improvement (z = 1.023, P = 0.306) leading to a significant difference between groups (z = 2.214, P = 0.027). Stronger improvement in memory function was correlated with increased cortical low frequency activity after low frequency deep brain stimulation as measured by electroencephalography (ρ = 0.711, P = 0.037).ConclusionThese results provide proof‐of‐principle that memory can be modulated by frequency‐specific deep brain stimulation during sleep. © 2024 The Author(s). Movement Disorders published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

中文翻译：

---

非快速眼动睡眠中的低频脑深部刺激改变了帕金森病患者的记忆保留


背景和目标记忆障碍是神经退行性疾病中常见且使人衰弱的症状。本研究的目的是提供原理证明，即睡眠期间的深部脑刺激可以改变帕金森病患者的记忆巩固，具体取决于所应用的刺激频率。方法24 例接受丘脑底核深部刺激治疗的帕金森病患者被纳入这项单盲试点研究。由于在测试当晚失眠，不得不排除 6 名患者。患者被随机分配 （1：1） 在早期非快速眼动 （NREM） 睡眠期间接受低频深部脑刺激 （4 Hz） 或临床使用的高频深部脑刺激 （130 Hz）。主要结局指标是通过经过验证的陈述性记忆任务测量的夜间记忆保留。结果在早期 NREM 睡眠期间接受低频脑深部刺激的患者 （n = 9,4 名女性，平均年龄 61.1 ± 4.3 岁） 显示夜间记忆保留改善 （z = 2.549，P = 0.011）。接受临床使用的高频深部脑刺激的患者 （n = 9,2 名女性，平均年龄 62.2 ± 7.1） 未显示任何改善 （z = 1.023，P = 0.306），导致组间差异显著 （z = 2.214，P = 0.027）。通过脑电图测量，记忆功能的更强改善与低频深部脑刺激后皮质低频活动增加相关 （ρ = 0.711，P = 0.037）。结论这些结果提供了原理证明，即睡眠期间可以通过频率特异性脑深部刺激来调节记忆。© 2024 作者。 由 Wiley Periodicals LLC 代表国际帕金森和运动障碍协会出版的《运动障碍》。