PET functional imaging of deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has become a recognized treatment for several movement disorders. Functional imaging provides a unique window to better understand in vivo its mechanisms of action. This is the case for Parkinson’s disease (PD) and subthalamic nucleus (STN) stimulation, dystonia and internal globus pallidus (GPi) stimulation or tremor and thalamic stimulation. The aim of this review is to summarize the contributions of PET studies in Parkinson’s disease.

► STN-DBS is a recognized treatment for Parkinson’s disease.
► Functional imaging by PET is mandatory to understand the consequences of STN-DBS.
► PET studies have shown task-specific consequences of STN-DBS in terms of brain perfusion.