NeuralCipher Research overview
The text below is the source article’s original abstract under a verified reuse license. cc by
ObjectiveAccurate electrode placement and individual stimulation parameters influence the outcomes of subthalamic deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease. Neuroimaging-based models can help evaluate how electrode placement impacts improvement, aiming to reduce the burden of programming. However, most existing models have been developed to explain differences between patients rather than differences between contacts within the same patient, leaving the clinical relevance of image-guided programming unclear.MethodsWe analyzed data from patients with Parkinson's disease treated with subthalamic deep brain stimulation to develop and validate a neuroimaging-informed model of motor improvement measured by the Unified Parkinson's Disease Scale. Five approaches were tested: active contact coordinates, electric fields, tract activations, as well as structural and functional networks. All approaches were integrated into a combined ridge regression model and validated using 2 hold-out datasets.ResultsThe sample included 236 patients (604 stimulation sites), divided into a training cohort (N = 129), a retrospective validation cohort (N = 89), and a prospectively acquired validation cohort (N = 21 electrodes). Consistent with expectations, our model explained approximately 12% of the variance in unseen group-level data (R2 = 0.12, p = 0.001). At the individual level, the model identified the optimal clinical contact or its neighboring contact in all but one case (mixed-effects R2 = 0.31, p = 3.67 × 10-10).InterpretationAn imaging-informed model explained the expected variance at the group level and demonstrated potential for guiding stimulation programming, suggesting that image-guided approaches may improve clinical decision making while reducing the need for lengthy postoperative testing. ANN NEUROL 2026;100:22-35.
Scientific assessment
Research question
Assess the question within the original study’s scope.
Methods & sample
Check the source article for study design and sample details.
Key findings
An editorially approved findings summary is not yet published for this record.
Limitations
Generalizability, bias and clinical meaning require separate assessment.
Methods, samples and clinical conclusions are not inferred from bibliographic metadata.