Using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry to evaluate striatal dopamine release elicited by subthalamic nucleus stimulation

Deep brain stimulation (DBS), an effective neurosurgical therapy for Parkinson´s disease (PD), may act via eliciting neurotransmitter release. However, the precise relationships between DBS and neurotransmitter release are not established. One issue in these studies may be analytical limitations of microdialysis and positron emission tomography, the primary measurement technologies employed. Limitations may be overcome by microsensors, which exhibit improved temporal and spatial resolution. Here we assess fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) at a carbon-fiber microelectrode (CFM) for monitoring a putative DBS neurotransmitter, dopamine, during stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN), a DBS target for PD. These results, obtained in the anesthetized rat, suggest that real-time microsensors are a suitable approach for testing the neurotransmitter release hypothesis of DBS action.