Circuit response to neuromodulation characterized with simultaneous deep brain stimulation and precision neuroimaging in humans

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an effective treatment for Parkinson’s disease (PD) but its neural mechanisms remain poorly understood. A mechanistic understanding requires precise characterization of functional responses to various stimulation conditions within the same individual. Here we use 3-T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-compatible DBS and precision imaging to collect extensive data from 14 patients with PD who received DBS. Across five timepoints spanning 1 year, each patient underwent 11.7 hours of functional MRI (fMRI) under seven stimulation conditions (30–172 min per session), 2.2 hours of structural MRI (26 min per session), 1.3 hours of diffusion-weighted MRI (16 min per session) and neurological assessments. Imaging data were also collected from 27 healthy participants. DBS normalizes connectivity in the somatocognitive action network and evokes differential responses in two distinct neurocircuits: the primary motor and globus pallidus circuits. Target cortical functional connectivity predicts clinical outcomes. This densely sampled dataset provides reliable, individually specific functional measures and is shared with the community to accelerate research into DBS mechanisms and improve personalized treatment strategies. Using a 3-T MRI-compatible deep brain stimulation (DBS) system, Ren at al. densely sampled longitudinal, multimodal neuroimaging data from patients with Parkinson’s disease across multiple stimulation conditions spanning a year, mapping circuit-specific DBS-induced responses.