Resting oscillatory cortico-subthalamic connectivity in patients with Parkinson’s disease

Abstract

Both phenotype and treatment response vary in patients with Parkinson's disease. Anatomical and functional imaging studies suggest that individual symptoms may represent malfunction of different segregated networks running in parallel through the basal ganglia. In this study, we use a newly described, electrophysiological method to describe cortico-subthalamic networks in humans. We performed combined magnetoencephalographic and subthalamic local field potential recordings in thirteen patients with Parkinson's disease at rest. Two spatially and spectrally separated networks were identified. A temporoparietal-brainstem network was coherent with the subthalamic nucleus in the alpha (7-13 Hz) band, whilst a predominantly frontal network was coherent in the beta (15-35 Hz) band. Dopaminergic medication modulated the resting beta network, by increasing beta coherence between the subthalamic region and prefrontal cortex. Subthalamic activity was predominantly led by activity in the cortex in both frequency bands. The cortical topography and frequencies involved in the alpha and beta networks suggest that these networks may be involved in attentional and executive, particularly motor planning, processes, respectively.

Deep Brain Stimulation of the Subthalamic Nucleus, but not Dopaminergic Medication, Improves Proactive Inhibitory Control of Movement Initiation in Parkinson's Disease

“…Importantly, the whole network is already known to support executive functions [63,64]. The pattern of anatomical and functional connectivity of these non-motor regions of the cortex with the non-motor regions of the STN is compatible with a possible influence of executive origin of the former on the latter via the hyperdirect pathway [65][66][67][68]. Besides, the fact that non-motor territories of the STN are connected to the motor ventrolateral thalamus [65] strongly suggests that the STN may, indeed, act as a direct interface between executive and motor systems.…”

Phase offset between slow oscillatory cortical inputs influences competition in a model of the basal ganglia

“…Although the above studies focus on oscillations within the BG, it has been argued that this activity is more likely to be generated externally, as a part of the thalamo-cortical loop [26], [27], [25] and maintain its coherence throughout the BG.…”

Thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation for Parkinson’s Disease

“…Simultaneous recordings using MEG and local field potentials in the subthalamic nucleus (STN) reveal that and activities are coupled to temporal brain areas and are involved in a functional separation of basal ganglia-cortex loops with different frequency patterns (Hirschmann et al, 2011). Litvak et al (2011) reported that in PD patients at rest, -range activities are coupled with temporoparietalbrainstem areas while -range activities are coupled with the frontal network. Thus, it is likely that -range oscillations might correlate with the motor loop and with manifestations of akinesia and rigidity.…”