Recent advance in clinical research of low-frequency deep brain stimulation of pedunculopontine nucleus in Parkinson's disease

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been widely used in the treatment of a variety of functional neurological diseases. The high- frequency electrical stimulation of subthalamic nucleus can improve tremor, bradykinesia, and rigidity of patients with Parkinson's disease, however, the effects of DBS on gait and balance disorders don't get very good improvement. Recently, clinical studies have found that low frequency pedunculopontine nucleus stimulation can relieve these axial symptoms. Hence we will summarize the clinical researches on the low- frequency deep brain stimulation of pedunculopontine nucleus. Key words: Parkinson's disease; Pedunculopontine nucleus; Deep brain stimulation