Subthalamic Nucleus: Neuroanatomical Review

AbstractDiscovered in 1865 by Jules Bernard Luys, the subthalamic nucleus is a set of small nuclei located in the diencephalon, inferior to the thalamus and superior to the substantia nigra, that can be visualized in a posterior coronal section. Histologically, it consists of neurons compactly distributed and filled with a large number of blood vessels and sparse myelinated fibers. This review presents an analysis of this anatomical region, considering what is most recent in the literature. Subthalamic neurons are excitatory and use glutamate as the neurotransmitter. In healthy individuals, these neurons are inhibited by nerve cells located in the side globus pallidus. However, if the fibers that make up the afferent circuit are damaged, the neurons become highly excitable, thus causing motor disturbances that can be classified as hyperkinetic, for example ballism and chorea, or hypokinetic, for example Parkinson disease (PD). The advent of deep brain stimulation has given the subthalamic nucleus great visibility. Studies reveal that the stimulation of this nucleus improves the motor symptoms of PD.

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Deep brain stimulation and refractory freezing of gait in Parkinson’s disease: Improvement with high-frequency current steering co-stimulation of subthalamic nucleus and substantia Nigra

Brain Stimulation ◽

10.1016/j.brs.2019.10.010 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 280-283 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Nico Golfrè Andreasi ◽

Vittorio Rispoli ◽

Elena Contaldi ◽

Fabiana Colucci ◽

Lorenzo Mongardi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Deep Brain Stimulation ◽

Substantia Nigra ◽

Subthalamic Nucleus ◽

Brain Stimulation ◽

High Frequency ◽

Freezing Of Gait ◽

Current Steering ◽

Frequency Current ◽

Deep Brain ◽

Stimulation Of

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Deep brain stimulation of the substantia nigra pars reticulata improves forelimb akinesia in the hemiparkinsonian rat

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00311.2012 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 109 (2) ◽

pp. 363-374 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Alexander C. Sutton ◽

Wilson Yu ◽

Megan E. Calos ◽

Autumn B. Smith ◽

Adolfo Ramirez-Zamora ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Deep Brain Stimulation ◽

Substantia Nigra ◽

Motor Function ◽

Neuronal Activity ◽

Brain Stimulation ◽

Substantia Nigra Pars Reticulata ◽

Motor Symptoms ◽

Beta Oscillations ◽

Deep Brain ◽

Stimulation Of

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) employing high-frequency stimulation (HFS) is commonly used in the globus pallidus interna (GPi) and the subthalamic nucleus (STN) for treating motor symptoms of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Although DBS improves motor function in most PD patients, disease progression and stimulation-induced nonmotor complications limit DBS in these areas. In this study, we assessed whether stimulation of the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr) improved motor function. Hemiparkinsonian rats predominantly touched with their unimpaired forepaw >90% of the time in the stepping and limb-use asymmetry tests. After SNr-HFS (150 Hz), rats touched equally with both forepaws, similar to naive and sham-lesioned rats. In vivo, SNr-HFS decreased beta oscillations (12–30 Hz) in the SNr of freely moving hemiparkinsonian rats and decreased SNr neuronal spiking activity from 28 ± 1.9 Hz before stimulation to 0.8 ± 1.9 Hz during DBS in anesthetized animals; also, neuronal spiking activity increased from 7 ± 1.6 to 18 ± 1.6 Hz in the ventromedial portion of the thalamus (VM), the primary SNr efferent. In addition, HFS of the SNr in brain slices from normal and reserpine-treated rat pups resulted in a depolarization block of SNr neuronal activity. We demonstrate improvement of forelimb akinesia with SNr-HFS and suggest that this motor effect may have resulted from the attenuation of SNr neuronal activity, decreased SNr beta oscillations, and increased activity of VM thalamic neurons, suggesting that the SNr may be a plausible DBS target for treating motor symptoms of DBS.

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