Open AccessA human prefrontal-subthalamic circuit for cognitive control
Author(s) -
Ryan M. Kelley,
Oliver Flouty,
Eric B. Emmons,
Young-Cho Kim,
Johnathan R. Kingyon,
Jan R. Wessel,
Hiroyuki Oya,
Jeremy D.W. Greenlee,
Nandakumar S. Narayanan
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
brain
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.142
H-Index - 336
eISSN - 1460-2156
pISSN - 0006-8950
DOI - 10.1093/brain/awx300
Subject(s) - cognition , neuroscience , prefrontal cortex , subthalamic nucleus , psychology , cognitive psychology , medicine , deep brain stimulation , parkinson's disease , disease
The subthalamic nucleus is a key site controlling motor function in humans. Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus can improve movements in patients with Parkinson's disease; however, for unclear reasons, it can also have cognitive effects. Here, we show that the human subthalamic nucleus is monosynaptically connected with cognitive brain areas such as the prefrontal cortex. Single neurons and field potentials in the subthalamic nucleus are modulated during cognitive processing and are coherent with 4-Hz oscillations in medial prefrontal cortex. These data predict that low-frequency deep brain stimulation may alleviate cognitive deficits in Parkinson's disease patients. In line with this idea, we found that novel 4-Hz deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus improved cognitive performance. These data support a role for the human hyperdirect pathway in cognitive control, which could have relevance for brain-stimulation therapies aimed at cognitive symptoms of human brain disease.awx300media15660002226001.
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