Adipocyte-brain communication after deep brain stimulation

Project Description:

Weight gain often follows deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in Parkinson’s disease, but it is currently unclear what factors drive this weight gain. The dissertation project will use several paradigms to study the role of hormones like leptin, adiponectin, resistin, ghrelin and others in weight gain after DBS.

In a prospective study, the PhD student will follow at least 10 patients (prior and post surgery) and will perform serial hormonal studies, with and without challenge. The imaging study will be run with and without stimulation. Finally, cerebrospinal fluid will be sampled repeatedly via a lumbar catheter in a small subsample of patients to assess central levels of relevant hormones.

The PhD student will be working closely with the clinical team caring for the PD patients.

Experimental Methods:

• Working with PD patients with and without deep brain stimulation
• Functional Imaging
• Behavioral testing
• CSF sampling
• Hormonal profiling 

Publications

• Hanssen, H.*, Steinhardt, J.*, Münchau, A., Al-Zubaidi, A., Tzvi, E., Heldmann, M., Schramm, P., Neumann, A., Rasche, D., Saryyeva, A., Voges, J., Galazky, I., Büntjen, L., Heinze, H., Krauss, J. K., Tronnier, V., Münte, T. F. and Brüggemann, N.: Cerebello-striatal interaction mediates effects of subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease Parkinsonism & Related Disorders, vol. Epub ahead of print, 2019 *equal contributing first author