Deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease: A scientometric and bibliometric analysis

Vinay Suresh¹ Tirth Dave^2* Shankhaneel Ghosh³ Rahul Jena⁴ Vivek Sanker⁵

• ¹King George's Medical University, India
• ²Bukovinian State Medical University, Ukraine
• ³Institute of Medical Sciences and Sum Hospital, India
• ⁴Bharati Vidyapeeth Medical College, India
• ⁵Society for Brain Mapping and Therapuetics, United States

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative condition affecting a significant proportion of the elderly population.
Although pharmacotherapy remains the mainstay in managing PD, deep brain stimulation (DBS) has emerged as an effective treatment for refractory cases. In this study, we conducted a bibliometric analysis of scholarly works on DBS in PD, examining research trends and the impact of published studies, to provide insights to researchers, clinicians, and policymakers to understand the current state and evolution of research in this field over time.
Methodology: A systematic search was conducted in the Scopus database, on March 13, 2023. Our keyword strategy included terms such as "Parkinson's disease," "PD," "Parkinsonism," "Deep brain stimulation," and "DBS”. The metadata of the top 1000 highly cited publications on Deep Brain Stimulation in Parkinson's disease was subjected to scientometric analysis using VOS Viewer and R Studio's’ Bibliometrix’ package. The analysis included publication characteristics, co-authorship, keyword co-occurrence, thematic clustering, and trend topics.
Results: Our bibliometric analysis involved a dataset of the top 1000 cited articles covering the period from 1984 to 2021, comprising 202 sources. The average number of citations per document was 140.9, with a total of 31854 references analyzed. Our analysis revealed that University of Oxford was the most frequently mentioned institution. Nine core research areas were identified through thematic keyword clustering, including neuropsychological function and motor circuit electrophysiology. These thematic clusters were represented by frequent keywords, such as "subthalamic nucleus" and "basal ganglia," which were further visualized in network maps and overlay visualization of the average publication year. Our analysis found a predominant representation of neurosurgical procedures such as "pallidotomy," "stereotaxic surgery," and "neurosurgery," in the earlier years, signifying historical emphasis on invasive surgical approaches.
Conclusion: Our analysis of the top 1000 publications on DBS for PD underscores the UK and US prominence in this field. Research hotspots reveal nine key areas, including DBS and neuronal oscillations, STN stimulation's impact on non-motor symptoms, and complications, pivotal for redefining Parkinson's treatment. The need for personalized DBS via connectome mapping and the potential to integrate DBS with NIBS point to innovative avenues for future exploration.