Graduate Student Seminar Series – Srdjan Sumarac

Graduate Student Seminar Series
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Location: MS2158 – 1 King’s College Circle
Presentation Title: Multimodal physiomarker investigations to optimize deep brain stimulation therapy
Abstract: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an established therapy for Parkinson’s disease when medication no longer controls motor symptoms. Conventional DBS delivers continuous stimulation without accounting for symptom state, which can lead to overstimulation and stimulation-induced side effects. Since stimulation cannot adapt to symptoms, patients often require lengthy and repeated reprogramming. These limitations motivate adaptive DBS systems that adjust stimulation in real time using brain-derived physiomarkers. This work examined electrophysiological signals recorded during DBS surgery in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and globus pallidus internus (GPi). Neuronal firing rates showed disease-related changes but did not scale with symptom severity. In contrast, beta oscillations correlated with motor impairment, though their suppression during stimulation reduces their utility as control signals. Stimulation-evoked responses provided insight into how DBS engages basal ganglia circuits and suggested restoration of striatal–pallidal synaptic strength. An additional oscillatory response, evoked recurrent neural activity (ERNA), reflected loop activity between STN and pallidum, and ERNA features were associated with bradykinesia severity. Together, these findings identify candidate physiomarkers and offer mechanistic insights to guide future adaptive DBS devices.
Supervisor Name: Luka Milosevic
Year of Study: 5
Program of Study: PhD
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