Research

Our research aims to enhance the effectiveness of DBS. This includes fine tuning existing therapies and exploring new brain targets and stimulation strategies. Research is embedded in our clinical program and patients benefit from close monitoring and our use of the most technologically advanced systems.

Projects

Evoked Resonant Neural Activity (ERNA) to transform DBS

DBS for Epilepsy

Selected Presentations

Evoked Resonant Neural Activity (ERNA) to transform DBS for Parkinson’s disease

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute Seminar, Melbourne

Evoked Resonance Neural Activity for STN DBS

Seventh Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank, Florida, USA (International, Plenary)

Evoked Resonance Neural Activity to transform STN DBS

East Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank, Beijing Tiantan Hospital, China (International, Plenary and Panel)

Evoked Resonance Neural Activity to transform STN DBS

Department of Neurological Surgery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester USA

Neuromodulation for gait in Parkinson’s disease

Movement Disorder Society of Australian and New Zealand, AGM, Adelaide (National)

Selected Publications

Paroxysmal fast activity is a biomarker of treatment response in deep brain stimulation for Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

Dalic LJ, Warren AEL, Spiegel C, Thevathasan W, Roten A, Bulluss KJ, Archer JS.
Epilepsia. 2022 Sep 17. doi: 10.1111/epi.17414. Online ahead of print.

Cognition, adaptive skills and epilepsy disability/severity in patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome undergoing deep brain stimulation for epilepsy in the ESTEL trial.

Dalic LJ, Warren AEL, Malpas CB, Thevathasan W, Roten A, Bulluss KJ, Archer JS.
Seizure. 2022 Jul 30;101:67-74. doi: 10.1016/j.seizure.2022.07.014.

Can brain signals and anatomy refine contact choice for deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease?

Xu SS, Lee WL, Perera T, Sinclair NC, Bulluss KJ, McDermott HJ, Thevathasan W.
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2022 May 19:jnnp-2021-327708.

The Optimal Target and Connectivity for Deep Brain Stimulation in Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome

Warren AEL, Dalic LJ, Bulluss KJ, BAppSci AR, Thevathasan W, Archer JS.
Ann Neurol. 2022 Apr 15. doi: 10.1002/ana.26368.

Towards guided and automated programming of subthalamic area stimulation in Parkinson’s disease

Xu SS, Sinclair NC, Bulluss KJ, Perera T, Lee WL, McDermott HJ, Thevathasan W.
Brain Commun. 2022 Jan 13;4(1):fcac003. doi: 10.1093/braincomms/fcac003.

DBS of thalamic centromedian nucleus for Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (ESTEL trial)

Dalic LJ, Warren AEL, Bulluss KJ, Thevathasan W, Roten A, Churilov L, Archer JS.
Annals of Neurology. 2021 Dec 7. doi: 10.1002/ana.26280. Online ahead of print.

How accurately are subthalamic nucleus electrodes implanted relative to the ideal stimulation location for Parkinson’s disease?

Pearce P, Bulluss K, Xu SS, Kim B, Milicevic M, Perera T, Thevathasan W.
PLoS One. 2021 Jul 15;16(7):e0254504. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254504. eCollection 2021.

Lesser-known aspects of deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease: Programming sessions, hardware surgeries, residential care admissions and deaths

Xu SS, Malpas CB, Bulluss KJ, McDermott HJ, Kalincik T, Thevathasan W.
Neuromodulation. 2021 Jun 10. doi: 10.1111/ner.13466.

Cortex leads the thalamic centromedian nucleus in generalized epileptic discharges in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome.

Dalic LJ, Warren AEL, Young JC, Thevathasan W, Roten A, Bulluss KJ, Archer JS.
Epilepsia. 2020 Oct;61(10):2214-2223.

Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Deep Brain Stimulation Think Tank: Advances in Neurophysiology, Adaptive DBS, Virtual Reality, Neuroethics and Technology

Ramirez-Zamora A, Giordano J, Gunduz A, Alcantara J, Cagle JN, Cernera S, Difuntorum P, Eisinger RS, Gomez J, Long S, Parks B, Wong JK, Chiu S, Patel B, Grill WM, Walker HC, Little SJ, Gilron R, Tinkhauser G, Thevathasan W, Sinclair NC, Lozano AM, Foltynie T, Fasano A, Sheth SA, Scangos K, Sanger TD, Miller J, Brumback AC, Rajasethupathy P, McIntyre C, Schlachter L, Suthana N, Kubu C, Sankary LR, Herrera-Ferrá K, Goetz S, Cheeran B, Steinke GK, Hess C, Almeida L, Deeb W, Foote KD, Okun MS.

Front Hum Neurosci. 2020 Mar 27;14:54. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00054. eCollection 2020.

Tailoring Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson’s Disease Using Evoked Resonant Neural Activity.

Thevathasan W, Sinclair NC, Bulluss KJ, McDermott HJ.
Front Hum Neurosci. 2020 Feb 28;14:71. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2020.00071. eCollection 2020.

 

Targeting the centromedian thalamic nucleus for deep brain stimulation.

Warren AEL, Dalic LJ, Thevathasan W, Roten A, Bulluss KJ, Archer J.
J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2020 Jan 24. pii: jnnp-2019-322030. doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2019-322030

On the neural basis of deep brain stimulation evoked resonant activity

Nicholas C Sinclair, James B Fallon, Kristian J Bulluss, Wesley Thevathasan and Hugh J McDermott
Biomedical Physics & Engineering Express, Volume 5, Number 5. Published 7 August 2019

Deep brain stimulation for Parkinson’s disease modulates high-frequency evoked and spontaneous neural activity

Sinclair N, McDermott HJ, Fallon JB, Perera T, Brown P, Bulluss KJ, Thevathasan W
Neurobiology of Disease, 2019 Jul 2;130:104522.

An Instrumented Pull Test to Characterize Postural Responses

Tan J, Thevathasan W, McGinley J, Brown P, Perera T.
J Vis Exp. 2019 Apr 6;(146). doi: 10.3791/59309.

Alternate subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation parameters to manage motor symptoms of Parkinson’s disease: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Conway Z, Silburn Peter, Thevathasan W, O’Maley K, Naughton G, Cole M
Movement Disorders Clinical Practice, 2018 Nov 8;6(1):17-26. doi: 10.1002/mdc3.12681 Review.

Balance control systems in Parkinson’s disease and the impact of pedunculopontine area stimulation

Perera T, Tan J.L, Cole M.H, Yohanandan S.A.C, Silberstein P, Cook R, Peppard R, Aziz T, Coyne T, Brown P, Silburn P.A, Thevathasan W
Brain, 2018 Oct 1;141(10):3009-3022. doi: 10.1093/brain/awy216

*Min Xiang, Stefan Glasauer and Barry M. Seemungal. Scientific commentary: Quantitative postural models as biomarkers of balance in Parkinson’s disease. Brain 2018

Neurophysiological analysis of the clinical pull test

Tan J.L, Perera T, McGinley J.L, Yohanandan S.A.C, Brown P, Thevathasan W
J Neurophysiology, 2018 Aug 15. doi: 10.1152/jn.00789.2017. [Epub ahead of print]

 

What is the therapeutic mechanism of pedunculopontine nucleus stimulation in Parkinson’s disease?

Thevathasan W and Moro E
Neurobiology of disease, 2018 Jun 19. pii: S0969-9961(18)30193-1.

Subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation evokes resonant neural activity

Sinclair N, McDermott H, Bulluss K, Fallon J, Perera T, Xu S, Brown P, Thevathasan W
Annals of Neurology, 2018 May;83(5):1027-1031

Movement Disorders Society PPN DBS Working Group in collaboration with the World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery.

Thevathasan W, Debu B, Aziz T, Bloem BR, Blahak C, Butson C, Czernecki V, Foltynie T, Fraix V, Grabli D, Joint C, Lozano AM, Okun MS, Ostrem J, Pavese N, Schrader C, Tai CH, Krauss JK, Moro E.
Pedunculopontine nucleus deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease: A clinical review Movement Disorders. 2018 Jan;33(1):10-20. Review

Functional Connectivity of the Pedunculopontine Nucleus and surrounding region in Parkinson’s Disease.

Jha A*, Litvak V*, Taulu S, Thevathasan W, Hyam JA, Foltynie T, Limousin P, Bogdanovic M, Zrinzo L, Green A, Aziz T, Friston K, Brown P.
Cereb Cortex. 2017. Jan;27(1):54-67

Pedunculopontine nucleus region deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease; surgical anatomy and terminology

Hamani P, Aziz T, Bloem BR, Brown P, Chabardes S, Coyne T, Foote K, Garcia-Rill E, Hirsch EC, Lozano A, Mazzone PAM, Okun MS, Hutchison W, Silburn P, Zrinzo L, Alam M, Goetz L, Pereira E, Rughani A, Thevathasan W, Moro E, Krauss JK
Stereotact Funct Neurosurg. 2016;94(5):298-306

Pedunculopontine nucleus region deep brain stimulation in Parkinson’s disease; surgical techniques, side effects and postoperative imaging

Hamani C, Lozano A, Mazzone PAM, Moro E, Hutchison W, Silburn, Zrinzo L, Alam M, Goetz L, Pereira E, Rughani A, Thevathasan W, Aziz T, Bloem BR, Brown P, Chabardes S, Coyne T, Foote K, Garcia-Rill E, Hirsch EC, Okun MS, Krauss JK
Stereotact Funct Neurosurg. 2016;94(5):307-319

Clinical validation of a precision electromagnetic tremor measurement system in participants receiving deep brain stimulation for essential tremor.

Perera T1, Yohanandan SA, Thevathasan W, Jones M, Peppard R, Evans AH, Tan JL, McKay CM, McDermott HJ
Physiol Meas. 2016 Sep;37(9):1516-27

Understanding the human pedunculopontine nucleus in Parkinson’s disease

Fytagoridis A, Silburn P, Coyne T, Thevathasan W
J Neural Transm (Vienna). 2016 Jul;123(7):769-74

 

Where and what is the PPN and what is its role in locomotion?

Windels F, Thevathasan W, Silburn P and Sah P
Brain, 2015 May;138(Pt 5):1133-4

Tremor reduction by deep brain stimulation is associated with gamma power suppression in Parkinson’s disease

Beudel M, Little S, Pogosyan A, Ashkan K, Foltynie T, Limousin P, Zrinzo L, Hariz M, Bogdanovic M, Cheeran B, Green AL1, Aziz T, Thevathasan W, Brown P
Neuromodulation, 2015 Jul;18(5):349-54

Pallidal somatotopy suggested by deep brain stimulation in a patient with dystonia

Joint CA, Thevathasan W, Green AL, Aziz TZ
Neurology, 2013 Feb 12;80(7):685-6

A spatiotemporal analysis of gait freezing and the impact of pedunculopontine nucleus stimulation

Thevathasan W, Cole MH, Graepel CL, Hyam JA, Jenkinson N, Brittain JS, Coyne TJ, Silburn PA, Aziz TZ, Kerr G, Brown P
Brain, 2012 May;135(Pt 5):1446-54

Alpha oscillations in the pedunculopontine nucleus correlate with gait performance in Parkinsonism

Thevathasan W, Pogosyan A, Hyam J.A, Jenkinson N, Foltynie T, Limousin P, Bogdanovic M, Zrinzo L, Green A.L, Aziz T.Z, Brown P
Brain, 2012 Jan;135(Pt 1):148-60.

 

Pedunculopontine nucleus stimulation improves gait freezing in Parkinson’s disease

Thevathasan W, Coyne TJ, Hyam JA, Kerr G, Jenkinson N, Aziz TZ, Silburn PA
Neurosurgery, 2011 Dec;69(6):1248-53; discussion 1254

A block to pre-prepared movement in gait freezing, relieved by pedunculopontine nucleus stimulation

Thevathasan W, Pogosyan A, Hyam J, Jenkinson N, Bogdanovic M, Coyne TJ, Silburn PA, Aziz TZ, Brown P
Brain. 2011 Jul;134(Pt 7):2085-95

Deep Brain Stimulation can suppress pathological synchronization in parkinsonian patients

Eusebio A, Thevathasan W, Pogosyan A, Hariz M, Aziz T, Brown P
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 2011 May;82(5):569-73.

Permanent tremor reduction during thalamic stimulation in Multiple Sclerosis

Thevathasan W, Schweder P, Joint C, Ray N, Pretorius P, Gregory R, Aziz T
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 2011 Apr;82(4):419-22

Oculopharyngodistal myopathy – a possible association with cardiomyopathy

Thevathasan W, Squier W, MacIver D.H, Hilton D.A, Fathers E, Hilton-Jones D
Neuromuscular Disorders. 2011 Feb;21(2):121-5.

Thalamotomy for postapoplectic hemiballistic chorea in older adults

Astradsson A, Schweder P, Joint C, Forrow B, Thevathasan W, Pereira EA, Green AL, Aziz TZ
J Am Geriatr Soc. 2010 Nov;58(11):2240-1

Predicting falls in Parkinson’s disease – a step in the right direction (Commissioned editorial)

Thevathasan W, Aziz TZ
Neurology, 2010 Jul 13;75(2):107-8

The impact of low frequency stimulation of the pedunculopontine nucleus region on reaction time in Parkinsonism

Thevathasan W, Silburn PA, Brooker H, Coyne TJ, Khan S, Gill SS, Aziz TZ, Brown P
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 2010 Oct;81(10):1099-104

Spinal cord stimulation failed to relieve akinesia or restore locomotion in Parkinson’s disease

Thevathasan W, Mazzone P, Jha A, Djamshidian A, Dileone, M, Di Lazzaro V, Brown P.
Neurology, 2010 Apr 20;74(16):1325-7

Deep Brain Stimulation for Movement Disorders (Commissioned review)

Thevathasan W, Gregory R
Practical Neurology, 2010 Feb; 10(1):16-26

Involvement of the Subthalamic Nucleus in engagement with behaviourally relevant stimuli.

Sauleau P, Eusebio A, Thevathasan W, Yarrow K, Pogosyan A, Zrinzo L, Ashkan K, Aziz T, Vandenberghe W, Nuttin B, Brown P.
European Journal of Neuroscience. 2009 Mar;29(5):931-42

 

Serpentine Tongue: A Lingual Dyskinesia

Sheehy SHC, Lawrence T, Thevathasan AW
Neurology 2008 May 20; 70 (21)

Cabrini Medical Centre,
183 Wattletree Rd, Malvern 3144