Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Capstone

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Physician Assistant Studies

Committee Chair

Trey Boyd

Abstract

Introduction: Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a modern neurosurgical technique where electrodes are implanted in specific brain areas and deliver electrical impulses in order to help regulate abnormal brain activity. DBS is used for the management of several neurological conditions and was approved by the FDA for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease in 2003. The purpose of this review is to analyze the effectiveness of DBS for the management of the non-motor symptoms related to Parkinson's disease.

Methods: PubMed was searched using the key terms “Parkinson disease,” “deep brain stimulation,” “voice,” “sleep,” “mood,” “cognition,” and “dysphagia.” Operators and filters narrowed results to 87 articles. The top six most relevant, quality articles were chosen for review.

Results: One study was a meta-analysis, one study was a systematic review, and one study was a randomized controlled trial. Three studies were combined meta-analyses and systematic reviews. Standard mean differences, 95% confidence interval (CI), and significant P-value of < 0.05 were used to evaluate the data.

Discussion: The articles reviewed showed that DBS has a positive effect on depression, anxiety, sleep quality, and quality of life in PD patients. DBS was seen to have minimal effect on dysphagia and speech and voice quality. Results may imply that DBS has a negative effect on memory, executive function, and cognitive decline. Further research is needed to explore the long-term effect of DBS and specific DBS stimulation techniques most effective for non-motor PD symptoms.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 4.0 License

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