A role for the subthalamic nucleus in response inhibition during conflict

Understanding the human conflict processing network: A review of the literature on direct neural recordings during performance of a modified stroop task

The Stroop Task is a well-known neuropsychological task developed to investigate conflict processing in the human brain. Our group has utilized direct intracranial neural recordings in various brain regions during performance of a modified color-word Stroop Task to gain a mechanistic understanding of non-emotional human conflict processing. The purpose of this review article is to: 1) synthesize our own studies into a model of human conflict processing, 2) review the current literature on the Stroop Task and other conflict tasks to put our research in context, and 3) describe how these studies define a network in conflict processing. The figures presented are reprinted from our prior publications and key publications referenced in the manuscript. We summarize all studies to date that employ invasive intracranial recordings in humans during performance of conflict-inducing tasks. For our own studies, we analyzed local field potentials (LFPs) from patients with implanted stereotactic electroencephalography (SEEG) electrodes, and we observed intracortical oscillation patterns as well as intercortical temporal relationships in the hippocampus, amygdala, and orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) during the cue-processing phase of a modified Stroop Task. Our findings suggest that non-emotional human conflict processing involves modulation across multiple frequency bands within and between brain structures.

The subthalamic nucleus contributes causally to perceptual decision-making in monkeys

The subthalamic nucleus (STN) plays critical roles in the motor and cognitive function of the basal ganglia (BG), but the exact nature of these roles is not fully understood, especially in the context of decision-making based on uncertain evidence. Guided by theoretical predictions of specific STN contributions, we used single-unit recording and electrical microstimulation in the STN of healthy monkeys to assess its causal, computational roles in visual-saccadic decisions based on noisy evidence. The recordings identified subpopulations of STN neurons with distinct task-related activity patterns that related to different theoretically predicted functions. Microstimulation caused changes in behavioral choices and response times that reflected multiple contributions to an "accumulate-to-bound"-like decision process, including modulation of decision bounds and evidence accumulation, and to non-perceptual processes. These results provide new insights into the multiple ways that the STN can support higher brain function.

Prefrontal-subthalamic theta signaling mediates delayed responses during conflict processing

While medial frontal cortex (MFC) and subthalamic nucleus (STN) have been implicated in conflict monitoring and action inhibition, respectively, an integrated understanding of the spatiotemporal and spectral interaction of these nodes and how they interact with motor cortex (M1) to definitively modify motor behavior during conflict is lacking. We recorded neural signals intracranially across presupplementary motor area (preSMA), M1, STN, and globus pallidus internus (GPi), during a flanker task in 20 patients undergoing deep brain stimulation implantation surgery for Parkinson disease or dystonia. Conflict is associated with sequential and causal increases in local theta power from preSMA to STN to M1 with movement delays directly correlated with increased STN theta power, indicating preSMA is the MFC locus that monitors conflict and signals STN to implement a 'break.' Transmission of theta from STN-to-M1 subsequently results in a transient increase in M1-to-GPi beta flow immediately prior to movement, modulating the motor network to actuate the conflict-related action inhibition (i.e., delayed response). Action regulation during conflict relies on two distinct circuits, the conflict-related theta and movement-related beta networks, that are separated spatially, spectrally, and temporally, but which interact dynamically to mediate motor performance, highlighting complex parallel yet interacting networks regulating movement.

Single threshold adaptive deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease depends on parameter selection, movement state and controllability of subthalamic beta activity

BACKGROUND

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an invasive treatment option for patients with Parkinson's disease. Recently, adaptive DBS (aDBS) systems have been developed, which adjust stimulation timing and amplitude in real-time. However, it is unknown how changes in parameters, movement states and the controllability of subthalamic beta activity affect aDBS performance.

OBJECTIVE

To characterize how parameter choice, movement state and controllability interactively affect the electrophysiological and behavioral response to single threshold aDBS.

METHODS

We recorded subthalamic local field potentials in 12 patients with Parkinson's disease receiving single threshold aDBS in the acute post-operative state. We investigated changes in two aDBS parameters: the onset time and the smoothing of real-time beta power. Electrophysiological patterns and motor performance were assessed while patients were at rest and during a simple motor task. We further studied the impact of controllability on aDBS performance by comparing patients with and without beta power modulation during continuous stimulation.

RESULTS

Our findings reveal that changes in the onset time control the extent of beta power suppression achievable with single threshold adaptive stimulation during rest. Behavioral data indicate that only specific parameter combinations yield a beneficial effect of single threshold aDBS. During movement, action induced beta power suppression reduces the responsivity of the closed loop algorithm. We further demonstrate that controllability of beta power is a prerequisite for effective parameter dependent modulation of subthalamic beta activity.

CONCLUSION

Our results highlight the interaction between single threshold aDBS parameter selection, movement state and controllability in driving subthalamic beta activity and motor performance. By this means, we identify directions for the further development of closed-loop DBS algorithms.

Human thalamic low-frequency oscillations correlate with expected value and outcomes during reinforcement learning

Reinforcement-based adaptive decision-making is believed to recruit fronto-striatal circuits. A critical node of the fronto-striatal circuit is the thalamus. However, direct evidence of its involvement in human reinforcement learning is lacking. We address this gap by analyzing intra-thalamic electrophysiological recordings from eight participants while they performed a reinforcement learning task. We found that in both the anterior thalamus (ATN) and dorsomedial thalamus (DMTN), low frequency oscillations (LFO, 4-12 Hz) correlated positively with expected value estimated from computational modeling during reward-based learning (after outcome delivery) or punishment-based learning (during the choice process). Furthermore, LFO recorded from ATN/DMTN were also negatively correlated with outcomes so that both components of reward prediction errors were signaled in the human thalamus. The observed differences in the prediction signals between rewarding and punishing conditions shed light on the neural mechanisms underlying action inhibition in punishment avoidance learning. Our results provide insight into the role of thalamus in reinforcement-based decision-making in humans.

Inferring cognitive state underlying conflict choices in verbal Stroop task using heterogeneous input discriminative-generative decoder model

Objective. The subthalamic nucleus (STN) of the basal ganglia interacts with the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and shapes a control loop, specifically when the brain receives contradictory information from either different sensory systems or conflicting information from sensory inputs and prior knowledge that developed in the brain. Experimental studies demonstrated that significant increases in theta activities (2-8 Hz) in both the STN and mPFC as well as increased phase synchronization between mPFC and STN are prominent features of conflict processing. While these neural features reflect the importance of STN-mPFC circuitry in conflict processing, a low-dimensional representation of the mPFC-STN interaction referred to as a cognitive state, that links neural activities generated by these sub-regions to behavioral signals (e.g. the response time), remains to be identified.Approach. Here, we propose a new model, namely, the heterogeneous input discriminative-generative decoder (HI-DGD) model, to infer a cognitive state underlying decision-making based on neural activities (STN and mPFC) and behavioral signals (individuals' response time) recorded in ten Parkinson's disease (PD) patients while they performed a Stroop task. PD patients may have conflict processing which is quantitatively (may be qualitative in some) different from healthy populations.Main results. Using extensive synthetic and experimental data, we showed that the HI-DGD model can diffuse information from neural and behavioral data simultaneously and estimate cognitive states underlying conflict and non-conflict trials significantly better than traditional methods. Additionally, the HI-DGD model identified which neural features made significant contributions to conflict and non-conflict choices. Interestingly, the estimated features match well with those reported in experimental studies.Significance. Finally, we highlight the capability of the HI-DGD model in estimating a cognitive state from a single trial of observation, which makes it appropriate to be utilized in closed-loop neuromodulation systems.

Uncovering the neurophysiology of mood, motivation and behavioral symptoms in Parkinson's disease through intracranial recordings

Neuropsychiatric mood and motivation symptoms (depression, anxiety, apathy, impulse control disorders) in Parkinson's disease (PD) are highly disabling, difficult to treat and exacerbated by current medications and deep brain stimulation therapies. High-resolution intracranial recording techniques have the potential to undercover the network dysfunction and cognitive processes that drive these symptoms, towards a principled re-tuning of circuits. We highlight intracranial recording as a valuable tool for mapping and desegregating neural networks and their contribution to mood, motivation and behavioral symptoms, via the ability to dissect multiplexed overlapping spatial and temporal neural components. This technique can be powerfully combined with behavioral paradigms and emerging computational techniques to model underlying latent behavioral states. We review the literature of intracranial recording studies investigating mood, motivation and behavioral symptomatology with reference to 1) emotional processing, 2) executive control 3) subjective valuation (reward & cost evaluation) 4) motor control and 5) learning and updating. This reveals associations between different frequency specific network activities and underlying cognitive processes of reward decision making and action control. If validated, these signals represent potential computational biomarkers of motivational and behavioural states and could lead to principled therapy development for mood, motivation and behavioral symptoms in PD.

Intelligibility of speech in Parkinson's disease relies on anatomically segregated subthalamic beta oscillations

BACKGROUND

Speech impairment is commonly reported in Parkinson's disease and is not consistently improved by available therapies - including deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus (STN-DBS), which can worsen communication performance in some patients. Improving the outcome of STN-DBS on speech is difficult due to our incomplete understanding of the contribution of the STN to fluent speaking.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the relationship between subthalamic neural activity and speech production and intelligibility.

METHODS

We investigated bilateral STN local field potentials (LFPs) in nine parkinsonian patients chronically implanted with DBS during overt reading. LFP spectral features were correlated with clinical scores and measures of speech intelligibility.

RESULTS

Overt reading was associated with increased beta-low ([1220) Hz) power in the left STN, whereas speech intelligibility correlated positively with beta-high ([2030) Hz) power in the right STN.

CONCLUSION

We identified separate contributions from frequency and brain lateralization of the STN in the execution of an overt reading motor task and its intelligibility. This subcortical organization could be exploited for new adaptive stimulation strategies capable of identifying the occurrence of speaking behavior and facilitating its functional execution.

Unlocking potential: low frequency subthalamic nucleus stimulation enhances executive function in Parkinson's disease patients with postural instability/gait disturbance

Postural instability/gait disturbance (PIGD) is very common in advanced Parkinson's disease, and associated with cognitive dysfunction. Research suggests that low frequency (5-12 Hz) subthalamic nucleus-deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) could improve cognition in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the clinical effectiveness of low frequency stimulation in PIGD patients has not been explored. This study was designed in a double-blinded randomized cross-over manner, aimed to verify the effect of low frequency STN-DBS on cognition of PIGD patients. Twenty-nine PIGD patients with STN-DBS were tested for cognitive at off (no stimulation), low frequency (5 Hz), and high frequency (130 Hz) stimulation. Neuropsychological tests included the Stroop Color-Word Test (SCWT), Verbal fluency test, Symbol Digital Switch Test, Digital Span Test, and Benton Judgment of Line Orientation test. For conflict resolution of executive function, low frequency stimulation significantly decreased the completion time of SCWT-C (p = 0.001) and Stroop interference effect (p < 0.001) compared to high frequency stimulation. However, no significant differences among stimulation states were found for other cognitive tests. Here we show, low frequency STN-DBS improved conflict resolution of executive function compared to high frequency. Our results demonstrated the possibility of expanding the treatment coverage of DBS to cognitive function in PIGD, which will facilitate integration of low frequency stimulation into future DBS programming.

The aperiodic exponent of subthalamic field potentials reflects excitation/inhibition balance in Parkinsonism

Periodic features of neural time-series data, such as local field potentials (LFPs), are often quantified using power spectra. While the aperiodic exponent of spectra is typically disregarded, it is nevertheless modulated in a physiologically relevant manner and was recently hypothesised to reflect excitation/inhibition (E/I) balance in neuronal populations. Here, we used a cross-species in vivo electrophysiological approach to test the E/I hypothesis in the context of experimental and idiopathic Parkinsonism. We demonstrate in dopamine-depleted rats that aperiodic exponents and power at 30-100 Hz in subthalamic nucleus (STN) LFPs reflect defined changes in basal ganglia network activity; higher aperiodic exponents tally with lower levels of STN neuron firing and a balance tipped towards inhibition. Using STN-LFPs recorded from awake Parkinson's patients, we show that higher exponents accompany dopaminergic medication and deep brain stimulation (DBS) of STN, consistent with untreated Parkinson's manifesting as reduced inhibition and hyperactivity of STN. These results suggest that the aperiodic exponent of STN-LFPs in Parkinsonism reflects E/I balance and might be a candidate biomarker for adaptive DBS.

High precision magnetoencephalography reveals increased right-inferior frontal gyrus beta power during response conflict

Flexibility of behavior and the ability to rapidly switch actions is critical for adaptive living in humans. It is well established that the right-inferior frontal gyrus (R-IFG) is recruited during outright action-stopping, relating to increased beta (12-30 Hz) power. It has also been posited that inhibiting incorrect response tendencies and switching is central to motor flexibility. However, it is not known if the commonly reported R-IFG beta signature of response inhibition in action-stopping is also recruited during response conflict, which would suggest overlapping networks for stopping and switching. In the current study, we analyzed high precision magnetoencephalography (hpMEG) data recorded with multiple within subject recording sessions (trials n > 10,000) from 8 subjects during different levels of response conflict. We hypothesized that a R-IFG-triggered network for response inhibition is domain general and therefore also involved in mediating response conflict. We tested whether R-IFG showed increased beta power dependent on the level of response conflict. Using event-related spectral perturbations and linear mixed modeling, we found that R-IFG beta power increased for response conflict trials. The R-IFG beta increase was specific to trials with strong response conflict, and increased R-IFG beta power related to less error. This supports a more generalized role for R-IFG beta, beyond simple stopping behavior towards response switching.

Novelty-induced frontal-STN networks in Parkinson's disease

Novelty detection is a primitive subcomponent of cognitive control that can be deficient in Parkinson's disease (PD) patients. Here, we studied the corticostriatal mechanisms underlying novelty-response deficits. In participants with PD, we recorded from cortical circuits with scalp-based electroencephalography (EEG) and from subcortical circuits using intraoperative neurophysiology during surgeries for implantation of deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes. We report three major results. First, novel auditory stimuli triggered midfrontal low-frequency rhythms; of these, 1-4 Hz "delta" rhythms were linked to novelty-associated slowing, whereas 4-7 Hz "theta" rhythms were specifically attenuated in PD. Second, 32% of subthalamic nucleus (STN) neurons were response-modulated; nearly all (94%) of these were also modulated by novel stimuli. Third, response-modulated STN neurons were coherent with midfrontal 1-4 Hz activity. These findings link scalp-based measurements of neural activity with neuronal activity in the STN. Our results provide insight into midfrontal cognitive control mechanisms and how purported hyperdirect frontobasal ganglia circuits evaluate new information.

A neurocomputational theory of action regulation predicts motor behavior in neurotypical individuals and patients with Parkinson’s disease

Surviving in an uncertain environment requires not only the ability to select the best action, but also the flexibility to withhold inappropriate actions when the environmental conditions change. Although selecting and withholding actions have been extensively studied in both human and animals, there is still lack of consensus on the mechanism underlying these action regulation functions, and more importantly, how they inter-relate. A critical gap impeding progress is the lack of a computational theory that will integrate the mechanisms of action regulation into a unified framework. The current study aims to advance our understanding by developing a neurodynamical computational theory that models the mechanism of action regulation that involves suppressing responses, and predicts how disruption of this mechanism can lead to motor deficits in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients. We tested the model predictions in neurotypical individuals and PD patients in three behavioral tasks that involve free action selection between two opposed directions, action selection in the presence of conflicting information and abandoning an ongoing action when a stop signal is presented. Our results and theory suggest an integrated mechanism of action regulation that affects both action initiation and inhibition. When this mechanism is disrupted, motor behavior is affected, leading to longer reaction times and higher error rates in action inhibition.

Clinical neuroscience and neurotechnology: An amazing symbiosis

In the last decades, clinical neuroscience found a novel ally in neurotechnologies, devices able to record and stimulate electrical activity in the nervous system. These technologies improved the ability to diagnose and treat neural disorders. Neurotechnologies are concurrently enabling a deeper understanding of healthy and pathological dynamics of the nervous system through stimulation and recordings during brain implants. On the other hand, clinical neurosciences are not only driving neuroengineering toward the most relevant clinical issues, but are also shaping the neurotechnologies thanks to clinical advancements. For instance, understanding the etiology of a disease informs the location of a therapeutic stimulation, but also the way stimulation patterns should be designed to be more effective/naturalistic. Here, we describe cases of fruitful integration such as Deep Brain Stimulation and cortical interfaces to highlight how this symbiosis between clinical neuroscience and neurotechnology is closer to a novel integrated framework than to a simple interdisciplinary interaction.

Joint impact on attention, alertness and inhibition of lesions at a frontal white matter crossroad

In everyday life, information from different cognitive domains - such as visuospatial attention, alertness, and inhibition - needs to be integrated between different brain regions. Early models suggested that completely segregated brain networks control these three cognitive domains. However, more recent accounts, mainly based on neuroimaging data in healthy participants, indicate that different tasks lead to specific patterns of activation within the same, higher-order and "multiple-demand" network. If so, then a lesion to critical substrates of this common network should determine a concomitant impairment in all three cognitive domains. The aim of the present study was to critically investigate this hypothesis, i.e., to identify focal stroke lesions within the network that can concomitantly impact visuospatial attention, alertness and inhibition. We studied an unselected sample of 60 first-ever right-hemispheric, subacute stroke patients using a data-driven, bottom-up approach. Patients performed 12 standardized neuropsychological and oculomotor tests, four per cognitive domain. Principal component analyses revealed a strong relationship between all three cognitive domains: 10 of 12 tests loaded on a first, Common Component. Analysis of the neuroanatomical lesion correlates using different approaches (i.e., Voxel-Based and Tractwise Lesion-Symptom Mapping, Disconnectome maps) provided convergent evidence on the association between severe impairment of this Common Component and lesions at the intersection of Superior Longitudinal Fasciculus II and III, Frontal Aslant Tract and, to a lesser extent, the Putamen and Inferior Fronto-Occipital Fasciculus. Moreover, patients with a lesion involving this region were significantly more impaired in daily living cognition, which provides an ecological validation of our results. A probabilistic functional atlas of the multiple-demand network was performed to confirm the potential relationship between patients' lesion substrates and observed cognitive impairments as a function of the MD-network connectivity disruption. These findings show, for the first time, that a lesion to a specific white matter crossroad can determine a concurrent breakdown in all three considered cognitive domains. Our results support the multiple-demand network model, proposing that different cognitive operations depend on specific collaborators and their interaction, within the same underlying neural network. Our findings also extend this hypothesis by showing (1) the contribution of SLF and FAT to the multiple-demand network, and (2) a critical neuroanatomical intersection, crossed by a vast amount of long-range white matter tracts, many of which interconnect cortical areas of the multiple-demand network. The vulnerability of this crossroad to stroke has specific cognitive and clinical consequences; this has the potential to influence future rehabilitative approaches.

Low-frequency oscillations link frontal and parietal cortex with subthalamic nucleus in conflicts

Low-frequency oscillations (LFOs, 28 Hz) in the subthalamic nucleus(STN) are known to reflect cognitive conflict. However, it is unclear if LFOs mediate communication and functional interactions among regions implicated in conflict processing, such as the motor cortex (M1), premotor cortex (PMC), and superior parietal lobule (SPL). To investigate the potential contribution of LFOs to cognitive conflict mediation, we recorded M1, PMC, and SPL activities by right subdural electrocorticography (ECoG) simultaneously with bilateral STN local field potentials (LFPs) by deep brain stimulation electrodes in 13 patients with Parkinson's disease who performed the arrow version of the Eriksen flanker task. Elevated cue-related LFO activity was observed across patients during task trials, with the earliest onset in PMC and SPL. At cue onset, LFO power exhibited a significantly greater increase or a trend of a greater increase in the PMC, M1, and STN, and less increase in the SPL during high-conflict (incongruent) trials than in low-conflict (congruent) trials. The local LFO power increases in PMC, SPL, and right STN were correlated with response time, supporting the notion that these structures are critical hubs for cognitive conflict processing. This power increase was accompanied by increased functional connectivity between the PMC and right STN, which was correlated with response time across subjects. Finally, ipsilateral PMC-STN Granger causality was enhanced during high-conflict trials, with direction from STN to PMC. Our study indicates that LFOs link the frontal and parietal cortex with STN during conflicts, and the ipsilateral PMC-STN connection is specifically involved in this cognitive conflict processing.

Conflict Detection in a Sequential Decision Task Is Associated with Increased Cortico-Subthalamic Coherence and Prolonged Subthalamic Oscillatory Response in the β Band

Making accurate decisions often involves the integration of current and past evidence. Here, we examine the neural correlates of conflict and evidence integration during sequential decision-making. Female and male human patients implanted with deep-brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes and age-matched and gender-matched healthy controls performed an expanded judgment task, in which they were free to choose how many cues to sample. Behaviorally, we found that while patients sampled numerically more cues, they were less able to integrate evidence and showed suboptimal performance. Using recordings of magnetoencephalography (MEG) and local field potentials (LFPs; in patients) in the subthalamic nucleus (STN), we found that β oscillations signaled conflict between cues within a sequence. Following cues that differed from previous cues, β power in the STN and cortex first decreased and then increased. Importantly, the conflict signal in the STN outlasted the cortical one, carrying over to the next cue in the sequence. Furthermore, after a conflict, there was an increase in coherence between the dorsal premotor cortex and STN in the β band. These results extend our understanding of cortico-subcortical dynamics of conflict processing, and do so in a context where evidence must be accumulated in discrete steps, much like in real life. Thus, the present work leads to a more nuanced picture of conflict monitoring systems in the brain and potential changes because of disease.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Decision-making often involves the integration of multiple pieces of information over time to make accurate predictions. We simultaneously recorded whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) and local field potentials (LFPs) from the human subthalamic nucleus (STN) in a novel task which required integrating sequentially presented pieces of evidence. Our key finding is prolonged β oscillations in the STN, with a concurrent increase in communication with frontal cortex, when presented with conflicting information. These neural effects reflect the behavioral profile of reduced tendency to respond after conflict, as well as relate to suboptimal cue integration in patients, which may be directly linked to clinically reported side-effects of deep-brain stimulation (DBS) such as impaired decision-making and impulsivity.

Functional connectivity maps of theta/alpha and beta coherence within the subthalamic nucleus region

The subthalamic nucleus (STN) is a primary target for deep brain stimulation in Parkinson's disease (PD). Although small in size, the STN is commonly partitioned into sensorimotor, cognitive/associative, and limbic subregions based on its structural connectivity profile to cortical areas. We investigated whether such a regional specialization is also supported by functional connectivity between local field potential recordings and simultaneous magnetoencephalography. Using a novel data set of 21 PD patients, we replicated previously reported cortico-STN coherence networks in the theta/alpha and beta frequency ranges, and looked for the spatial distribution of these networks within the STN region. Although theta/alpha and beta coherence peaks were both observed in on-medication recordings from electrode contacts at several locations within and around the STN, sites with theta/alpha coherence peaks were situated at significantly more inferior MNI coordinates than beta coherence peaks. Sites with only theta/alpha coherence peaks, i.e. without distinct beta coherence, were mostly located near the border of sensorimotor and cognitive/associative subregions as defined by a tractography-based atlas of the STN. Peak coherence values were largely unaltered by the medication state of the subject, however, theta/alpha peaks were more often identified in recordings obtained after administration of dopaminergic medication. Our findings suggest the existence of a frequency-specific topography of cortico-STN coherence within the STN, albeit with considerable spatial overlap between functional networks. Consequently, optimization of deep brain stimulation targeting might remain a trade-off between alleviating motor symptoms and avoiding adverse neuropsychiatric side effects.

Cognitive Control as a Multivariate Optimization Problem

A hallmark of adaptation in humans and other animals is our ability to control how we think and behave across different settings. Research has characterized the various forms cognitive control can take-including enhancement of goal-relevant information, suppression of goal-irrelevant information, and overall inhibition of potential responses-and has identified computations and neural circuits that underpin this multitude of control types. Studies have also identified a wide range of situations that elicit adjustments in control allocation (e.g., those eliciting signals indicating an error or increased processing conflict), but the rules governing when a given situation will give rise to a given control adjustment remain poorly understood. Significant progress has recently been made on this front by casting the allocation of control as a decision-making problem. This approach has developed unifying and normative models that prescribe when and how a change in incentives and task demands will result in changes in a given form of control. Despite their successes, these models, and the experiments that have been developed to test them, have yet to face their greatest challenge: deciding how to select among the multiplicity of configurations that control can take at any given time. Here, we will lay out the complexities of the inverse problem inherent to cognitive control allocation, and their close parallels to inverse problems within motor control (e.g., choosing between redundant limb movements). We discuss existing solutions to motor control's inverse problems drawn from optimal control theory, which have proposed that effort costs act to regularize actions and transform motor planning into a well-posed problem. These same principles may help shed light on how our brains optimize over complex control configuration, while providing a new normative perspective on the origins of mental effort.

Distinct Roles of the Human Subthalamic Nucleus and Dorsal Pallidum in Parkinson's Disease Impulsivity

BACKGROUND

Impulsivity and impulse control disorders are common in Parkinson's disease and lead to increased morbidity and reduced quality of life. Impulsivity is thought to arise from aberrant reward processing and inhibitory control, but it is unclear why deep brain stimulation of either the subthalamic nucleus (STN) or globus pallidus internus (GPi) affects levels of impulsivity. Our aim was to assess the role of the STN and GPi in impulsivity using invasive local field potential (LFP) recordings from deep brain stimulation electrodes.

METHODS

We measured LFPs during a simple rewarding Go/NoGo paradigm in 39 female and male human patients with Parkinson's disease manifesting variable amounts of impulsivity who were undergoing unilateral deep brain stimulation of either the STN (18 nuclei) or GPi (28 nuclei). We identified reward-specific LFP event-related potentials and correlated them to impulsivity severity.

RESULTS

LFPs in both structures modulated during reward-specific Go and NoGo stimulus evaluation, reward feedback, and loss feedback. Motor and limbic functions were anatomically separable in the GPi but not in the STN. Across participants, LFP reward processing responses in the STN and GPi uniquely depended on the severity of impulsivity.

CONCLUSIONS

This study establishes LFP correlates of impulsivity within the STN and GPi regions. We propose a model for basal ganglia reward processing that includes the bottom-up role of the GPi in reward salience and the top-down role of the STN in cognitive control.

Cognitive task-related oscillations in human internal globus pallidus and subthalamic nucleus

Recently it has been acknowledged that the basal ganglia nuclei play a major role in cognitive control; however, the contribution by their network remains unclear. Previous studies have demonstrated the role of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in cognitive processing and suggested that its connections to cortical and other associated regions regulate response inhibition during conflict conditions. By contrast, the role of the internal globus pallidus (GPi) as the output nucleus before the thalamic relay has not yet been investigated during cognitive processing. We recorded local field potentials (LFPs) from externalized deep brain stimulation (DBS) electrodes implanted bilaterally in the GPi (n=9 participants with dystonia) and STN (n=8 participants with Parkinson's disease (PD)) during a primed flanker task. Both dystonia (GPi group) and PD participants (STN group) responded faster to the congruent trials than the incongruent trials. Overall, the dystonic GPi group was significantly faster than the PD STN group. LFPs showed elevated cue-triggered theta (3-7Hz) power in GPi and STN groups in a similar way. Response-triggered LFP beta power (13-25Hz) was significantly increased in the GPi group compared to the STN group. Results demonstrate that GPi activity appears to be critical in the cognitive processing of action selection and response during the presence of conflict tasks similar to the STN group.

Brain oscillations and Parkinson disease

Brain oscillations have been associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) for a long time mainly due to the fundamental oscillatory nature of parkinsonian rest tremor. Over the years, this association has been extended to frequencies well above that of tremor, largely owing to the opportunities offered by deep brain stimulation (DBS) to record electrical activity directly from the patients' basal ganglia. This chapter reviews the results of research on brain oscillations in PD focusing on theta (4-7Hz), beta (13-35Hz), gamma (70-80Hz) and high-frequency oscillations (200-400Hz). For each of these oscillations, we describe localization and interaction with brain structures and between frequencies, changes due to dopamine intake, task-related modulation, and clinical relevance. The study of brain oscillations will also help to dissect the mechanisms of action of DBS. Overall, the chapter tentatively depicts PD in terms of "oscillopathy."

Dorsal visual stream is preferentially engaged during externally guided action selection in Parkinson Disease

OBJECTIVE

In patients with Parkinson Disease (PD), self-imitated or internally cued (IC) actions are thought to be compromised by the disease process, as exemplified by impairments in action initiation. In contrast, externally-cued (EC) actions which are made in response to sensory prompts can restore a remarkable degree of movement capability in PD, particularly alleviating freezing-of-gait. This study investigates the electrophysiological underpinnings of movement facilitation in PD through visuospatial cuing, with particular attention to the dynamics within the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) and lateral premotor cortex (LPMC) axis of the dorsal visual stream.

METHODS

Invasive cortical recordings over the PPC and LPMC were obtained during deep brain stimulation lead implantation surgery. Thirteen PD subjects performed an action selection task, which was constituted by left or right joystick movement with directional visual cuing in the EC condition and internally generated direction selection in the IC condition. Time-resolved neural activities within and between the PPC and LPMC were compared between EC and IC conditions.

RESULTS

Reaction times (RT) were significantly faster in the EC condition relative to the IC condition (paired t-test, p = 0.0015). PPC-LPMC inter-site phase synchrony within the β-band (13-35 Hz) was significantly greater in the EC relative to the IC condition. Greater PPC-LPMC β debiased phase lag index (dwPLI) prior to movement onset was correlated with faster reaction times only in the EC condition. Multivariate granger causality (GC) was greater in the EC condition relative to the IC condition, prior to and during movement.

CONCLUSION

Relative to IC actions, we report relative increase in inter-site phase synchrony and directional PPC to LPMC connectivity in the β-band during preparation and execution of EC actions. Furthermore, increased strength of connectivity is predictive of faster RT, which are pathologically slow in PD patients. Stronger engagement of the PPC-LPMC cortical network by an EC specifically through the channel of β-modulation is implicated in correcting the pathological slowing of action initiation seen in Parkinson's patients.

SIGNIFICANCE

These findings shed light on the electrophysiological mechanisms that underlie motor facilitation in PD patients through visuospatial cuing.

Cortico-subcortical β burst dynamics underlying movement cancellation in humans

Dominant neuroanatomical models hold that humans regulate their movements via loop-like cortico-subcortical networks, which include the subthalamic nucleus (STN), motor thalamus, and sensorimotor cortex (SMC). Inhibitory commands across these networks are purportedly sent via transient, burst-like signals in the β frequency (15-29 Hz). However, since human depth-recording studies are typically limited to one recording site, direct evidence for this proposition is hitherto lacking. Here, we present simultaneous multi-site recordings from SMC and either STN or motor thalamus in humans performing the stop-signal task. In line with their purported function as inhibitory signals, subcortical β-bursts were increased on successful stop-trials. STN bursts in particular were followed within 50 ms by increased β-bursting over SMC. Moreover, between-site comparisons (including in a patient with simultaneous recordings from SMC, thalamus, and STN) confirmed that β-bursts in STN temporally precede thalamic β-bursts. This highly unique set of recordings provides empirical evidence for the role of β-bursts in conveying inhibitory commands along long-proposed cortico-subcortical networks underlying movement regulation in humans.

Imaging Cognitive Impairment and Impulse Control Disorders in Parkinson's Disease

Dementia and mild forms of cognitive impairment as well as neuropsychiatric symptoms (i. e., impulse control disorders) are frequent and disabling non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD). The identification of changes in neuroimaging studies for the early diagnosis and monitoring of the cognitive and neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with Parkinson's disease, as well as their pathophysiological understanding, are critical for the development of an optimal therapeutic approach. In the current literature review, we present an update on the latest structural and functional neuroimaging findings, including high magnetic field resonance and radionuclide imaging, assessing cognitive dysfunction and impulse control disorders in PD.

Chemogenetic inactivation reveals the inhibitory control function of the prefronto-striatal pathway in the macaque brain

The lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC) has a strong monosynaptic connection with the caudate nucleus (CdN) of the striatum. Previous human MRI studies have suggested that this LPFC-CdN pathway plays an important role in inhibitory control and working memory. We aimed to validate the function of this pathway at a causal level by pathway-selective manipulation of neural activity in non-human primates. To this end, we trained macaque monkeys on a delayed oculomotor response task with reward asymmetry and expressed an inhibitory type of chemogenetic receptors selectively to LPFC neurons that project to the CdN. Ligand administration reduced the inhibitory control of impulsive behavior, as well as the task-related neuronal responses observed in the local field potentials from the LPFC and CdN. These results show that we successfully suppressed pathway-selective neural activity in the macaque brain, and the resulting behavioral changes suggest that the LPFC-CdN pathway is involved in inhibitory control.

Not all errors are alike: modulation of error-related neural responses in musical joint action

During joint action, the sense of agency enables interaction partners to implement corrective and adaptive behaviour in response to performance errors. When agency becomes ambiguous (e.g. when action similarity encourages perceptual self-other overlap), confusion as to who produced what may disrupt this process. The current experiment investigated how ambiguity of agency affects behavioural and neural responses to errors in a joint action domain where self-other overlap is common: musical duos. Pairs of pianists performed piano pieces in synchrony, playing either the same pitches (ambiguous agency) or different pitches (unambiguous agency) while electroencephalography (EEG) was recorded for each individual. Behavioural and event-related potential results showed no effects of the agency manipulation but revealed differences in how distinct error types are processed. Self-produced 'wrong note' errors (substitutions) were left uncorrected, showed post-error slowing and elicited an error-related negativity (ERN) peaking before erroneous keystrokes (pre-ERN). In contrast, self-produced 'extra note' errors (additions) exhibited pre-error slowing, error and post-error speeding, were rapidly corrected and elicited the ERN. Other-produced errors evoked a feedback-related negativity but no behavioural effects. Overall findings shed light upon how the nervous system supports fluent interpersonal coordination in real-time joint action by employing distinct mechanisms to manage different types of errors.

Cortical and subcortical contributions to interference resolution and inhibition - An fMRI ALE meta-analysis

Interacting with our environment requires the selection of appropriate responses and the inhibition of others. Such effortful inhibition is achieved by a number of interference resolution and global inhibition processes. This meta-analysis including 57 studies and 73 contrasts revisits the overlap and differences in brain areas supporting interference resolution and global inhibition in cortical and subcortical brain areas. Activation likelihood estimation was used to discern the brain regions subserving each type of cognitive control. Individual contrast analysis revealed a common activation of the bilateral insula and supplementary motor areas. Subtraction analyses demonstrated the voxel-wise differences in recruitment in a number of areas including the precuneus in the interference tasks and the frontal pole and dorsal striatum in the inhibition tasks. Our results display a surprising lack of subcortical involvement within these types of cognitive control, a finding that is likely to reflect a systematic gap in the field of functional neuroimaging.

Amygdaloid theta-band power increases during conflict processing in humans

The amygdala is a medial temporal lobe structure known to be involved in processing emotional conflict. However, its role in processing non-emotional conflict is not well understood. Previous studies have utilized the Stroop Task to examine brain modulation of humans under the color-word conflict scenario, which is non-emotional conflict processing, and found hippocampal theta-band (4-7 Hz) modulation. This study aims to survey amygdaloid theta power changes during non-emotional conflict processing using intracranial depth electrodes in nine epileptic patients (3 female; age 20-62). All patients were asked to perform a modified Stroop task. During task performance, local field potential (LFP) data was recorded from macro contacts sampled at 2 K Hz and used for analysis. Mean theta power change from baseline was compared between the incongruent and congruent task condition groups using a paired sample t-test. Seven patients were available for analysis after artifact exclusion. In five out of seven patients, statistically significant increases in theta-band power from baseline were noted during the incongruent task condition (paired sample t-test p < 0.001), including one patient exhibiting theta power increases in both task conditions. Average response time was 1.07 s (failure trials) and 1.04 s (success trials). No speed-accuracy tradeoff was noted in this analysis. These findings indicate that human amygdaloid theta-band modulation may play a role in processing non-emotional conflict. It builds directly upon work suggesting that the amygdala processes emotional conflict and provides a neurophysiological mechanism for non-emotional conflict processing as well.

Fronto-subthalamic phase synchronization and cross-frequency coupling during conflict processing

Growing evidence suggests that both the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the subthalamic nucleus (STN) play crucial roles in conflict processing, but how these two structures coordinate their activities remains poorly understood. We simultaneously recorded electroencephalogram from the mPFC and local field potentials from the STN using deep brain stimulation electrodes in 13 Parkinson’s disease patients while they performed a Stroop task. Both mPFC and STN showed significant increases in theta activities (2–8 Hz) in incongruent trials compared to the congruent trials. The theta activity in incongruent trials also demonstrated significantly increased phase synchronization between mPFC and STN. Furthermore, the amplitude of gamma oscillation was modulated by the phase of theta activity at the STN in incongruent trials. Such theta-gamma phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) was much stronger for incongruent trials with faster reaction times than those with slower reaction times. Elevated theta-gamma PAC in the STN provides a novel mechanism by which the STN may operationalize its proposed “hold-your-horses” role. The co-occurrence of mPFC-STN theta phase synchronization and STN theta-gamma PAC reflects a neural substrate for fronto-subthalamic communication during conflict processing. More broadly, it may be a general mechanism for neuronal interactions in the cortico-basal ganglia circuits via a combination of long-range, within-frequency phase synchronization and local cross-frequency PAC.

Corticostriatal Regulation of Language Functions

The role of corticostriatal circuits in language functions is unclear. In this review, we consider evidence from language learning, syntax, and controlled language production and comprehension tasks that implicate various corticostriatal circuits. Converging evidence from neuroimaging in healthy individuals, studies in populations with subcortical dysfunction, pharmacological studies, and brain stimulation suggests a domain-general regulatory role of corticostriatal systems in language operations. The role of corticostriatal systems in language operations identified in this review is likely to reflect a broader function of the striatum in responding to uncertainty and conflict which demands selection, sequencing, and cognitive control. We argue that this role is dynamic and varies depending on the degree and form of cognitive control required, which in turn will recruit particular corticostriatal circuits and components organised in a cognitive hierarchy.

Acute low frequency dorsal subthalamic nucleus stimulation improves verbal fluency in Parkinson's disease

BACKGROUND

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder that results in movement-related dysfunction and has variable cognitive impairment. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the dorsal subthalamic nucleus (STN) has been shown to be effective in improving motor symptoms; however, cognitive impairment is often unchanged, and in some cases, worsened particularly on tasks of verbal fluency. Traditional DBS strategies use high frequency gamma stimulation for motor symptoms (∼130 Hz), but there is evidence that low frequency theta oscillations (5-12 Hz) are important in cognition.

METHODS

We tested the effects of stimulation frequency and location on verbal fluency among patients who underwent STN DBS implantation with externalized leads. During baseline cognitive testing, STN field potentials were recorded and the individual patients' peak theta frequency power was identified during each cognitive task. Patients repeated cognitive testing at five different stimulation settings: no stimulation, dorsal contact gamma (130 Hz), ventral contact gamma, dorsal theta (peak baseline theta) and ventral theta (peak baseline theta) frequency stimulation.

RESULTS

Acute left dorsal peak theta frequency STN stimulation improves overall verbal fluency compared to no stimulation and to either dorsal or ventral gamma stimulation. Stratifying by type of verbal fluency probes, verbal fluency in episodic categories was improved with dorsal theta stimulation compared to all other conditions, while there were no differences between stimulation conditions in non-episodic probe conditions.

CONCLUSION

Here, we provide evidence that dorsal STN theta stimulation may improve verbal fluency, suggesting a potential possibility of integrating theta stimulation into current DBS paradigms to improve cognitive outcomes.

Cognitive effects of theta frequency bilateral subthalamic nucleus stimulation in Parkinson's disease: A pilot study

BACKGROUND

There is significant evidence for cognitive decline following deep brain stimulation (DBS). Current stimulation paradigms utilize gamma frequency stimulation for optimal motor benefits; however, little has been done to optimize stimulation parameters for cognition. Recent evidence implicates subthalamic nucleus (STN) theta oscillations in executive function, and theta oscillations are well-known to relate to episodic memory, suggesting that theta frequency stimulation could potentially improve cognition in Parkinson's disease (PD).

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the acute effects of theta frequency bilateral STN stimulation on executive function in PD versus gamma frequency and off, as well as investigate the differential effects on episodic versus nonepisodic verbal fluency.

METHODS

Twelve patients (all males, mean age 60.8) with bilateral STN DBS for PD underwent a double-blinded, randomized cognitive testing during stimulation at (1) 130-135 Hz (gamma), (2) 10 Hz (theta) and (3) off. Executive functions and processing speed were evaluated using verbal fluency tasks (letter, episodic category, nonepisodic category, and category switching), color-word interference task, and random number generation task. Performance at each stimulation frequency was compared within subjects.

RESULTS

Theta frequency significantly improved episodic category fluency compared to gamma, but not compared to off. There were no significant differences between stimulation frequencies in other tests.

CONCLUSION

In this pilot trial, our results corroborate the role of theta oscillations in episodic retrieval, although it is unclear whether this reflects direct modulation of the medial temporal lobe and whether similar effects can be found with more canonical memory paradigms. Further work is necessary to corroborate our findings and investigate the possibility of interleaving theta and gamma frequency stimulation for concomitant motor and cognitive effects.

Double-blind disruption of right inferior frontal cortex with TMS reduces right frontal beta power for action stopping

Stopping action depends on the integrity of the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG). Electrocorticography from the rIFG shows an increase in beta power during action stopping. Scalp EEG shows a similar right frontal beta increase, but it is unknown whether this beta modulation relates to the underlying rIFG network. Demonstrating a causal relationship between the rIFG and right frontal beta in EEG during action stopping is important for putting this electrophysiological marker on a firmer footing. In a double-blind study with a true sham coil, we used fMRI-guided 1-Hz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) to disrupt the rIFG and to test whether this reduced right frontal beta and impaired action stopping. We found that rTMS selectively slowed stop signal reaction time (SSRT) (no effect on Go) and reduced right frontal beta (no effect on sensorimotor mu/beta related to Go); it also reduced the variance of a single-trial muscle marker of stopping. Surprisingly, sham stimulation also slowed SSRTs and reduced beta. Part of this effect, however, resulted from carryover of real stimulation in participants who received real stimulation first. A post hoc between-group comparison of those participants who received real first compared with those who received sham first showed that real stimulation reduced beta significantly more. Thus, real rTMS uniquely affected metrics of stopping in the muscle and resulted in a stronger erosion of beta. We argue that this causal test validates right frontal beta as a functional marker of action stopping.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Action stopping recruits the right inferior frontal gyrus (rIFG) and elicits increases in right frontal beta. The present study now provides causal evidence linking these stopping-related beta oscillations to the integrity of the underlying rIFG network. One-hertz transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) over the rIFG impaired stopping and reduced right frontal beta during a stop-signal task. Furthermore, the effect on neural oscillations was specific to stopping-related beta, with no change in sensorimotor mu/beta corresponding to the Go response.

Beta-band modulation in the human hippocampus during a conflict response task

Objective Identify the role of beta-band (13-30 Hz) power modulation in the human hippocampus during conflict processing. Approach We investigated changes in the spectral power of the beta band (13-30 Hz) as measured by depth electrode leads in the hippocampus during a modified Stroop task in six patients with medically-refractory epilepsy. Previous work done with direct electrophysiological recordings in humans has shown hippocampal theta-band (3-8 Hz) modulation during conflict processing. Local field potentials (LFP) sampled at 2k Hz were used for analysis and a non-parametric cluster-permutation t-test was used to identify the time period and frequency ranges of significant power change during cue processing (i.e. post-stimulus, pre-response). Main Results In five of the six patients, we observe a statistically significant increase in hippocampal beta-band power during successful conflict processing in the incongruent trial condition (cluster-based correction for multiple comparisons, p < 0.05). There was no significant beta-band power change observed during the cue processing period of the congruent condition in the hippocampus of these patients. Significance The beta-power changes during conflict processing represented here are consistent with previous studies suggesting that the hippocampus plays a role in conflict processing, but it is the first time that the beta band has been shown to be involved in humans with direct electrophysiological evidence. We propose that beta-band modulation plays a role in successful conflict detection and automatic response inhibition in the human hippocampus as studied during a conflict response task.

Cross-Task Contributions of Frontobasal Ganglia Circuitry in Response Inhibition and Conflict-Induced Slowing

Why are we so slow in choosing the lesser of 2 evils? We considered whether such slowing relates to uncertainty about the value of these options, which arises from the tendency to avoid them during learning, and whether such slowing relates to frontosubthalamic inhibitory control mechanisms. In total, 49 participants performed a reinforcement-learning task and a stop-signal task while fMRI was recorded. A reinforcement-learning model was used to quantify learning strategies. Individual differences in lose-lose slowing related to information uncertainty due to sampling, and independently, to less efficient response inhibition in the stop-signal task. Neuroimaging analysis revealed an analogous dissociation: subthalamic nucleus (STN) BOLD activity related to variability in stopping latencies, whereas weaker frontosubthalamic connectivity related to slowing and information sampling. Across tasks, fast inhibitors increased STN activity for successfully canceled responses in the stop task, but decreased activity for lose-lose choices. These data support the notion that fronto-STN communication implements a rapid but transient brake on response execution, and that slowing due to decision uncertainty could result from an inefficient release of this "hold your horses" mechanism.

Prefrontal - subthalamic pathway supports action selection in a spatial working memory task

Subthalamic nucleus (STN) is the main source of feed-forward excitation in the basal ganglia and a main target of therapeutic deep brain stimulation in movement disorders. Alleviation of motor symptoms during STN stimulation can be accompanied by deterioration of abilities to quickly choose between conflicting alternatives. Cortical afferents to the subthalamic region (ST), comprising STN and zona incerta (ZI), include projections from the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), yet little is known about prefrontal-subthalamic coordination and its relevance for decision-making. Here we combined electrophysiological recordings with optogenetic manipulations of projections from mPFC to ST in mice as they performed a spatial working memory task (T-maze) or explored an elevated plus maze (anxiety test). We found that gamma oscillations (30–70 Hz) are coordinated between mPFC and ST at theta (5–10 Hz) and, less efficiently, at sub-theta (2–5 Hz) frequencies. An optogenetic detuning of the theta/gamma cross-frequency coupling between the regions into sub-theta range impaired performance in the T-maze, yet did not affect anxiety-related behaviors in the elevated plus maze. Both detuning and inhibition of the mPFC-ST pathway led to repeated incorrect choices in the T-maze. These effects were not associated with changes of anxiety and motor activity measures. Our findings suggest that action selection in a cognitively demanding task crucially involves theta rhythmic coordination of gamma oscillatory signaling in the prefrontal-subthalamic pathway.

Patterns of Focal- and Large-Scale Synchronization in Cognitive Control and Inhibition: A Review

Neural synchronization patterns are involved in several complex cognitive functions and constitute a growing trend in neuroscience research. While synchrony patterns in working memory have been extensively discussed, a complete understanding of their role in cognitive control and inhibition is still elusive. Here, we provide an up-to-date review on synchronization patterns underlying behavioral inhibition, extrapolating common grounds, and dissociating features with other inhibitory functions. Moreover, we suggest a schematic conceptual framework and highlight existing gaps in the literature, current methodological challenges, and compelling research questions for future studies.

Uncoupling the roles of firing rates and spike bursts in shaping the STN-GPe beta band oscillations

The excess of 15-30 Hz (β-band) oscillations in the basal ganglia is one of the key signatures of Parkinson's disease (PD). The STN-GPe network is integral to generation and modulation of β band oscillations in basal ganglia. However, the role of changes in the firing rates and spike bursting of STN and GPe neurons in shaping these oscillations has remained unclear. In order to uncouple their effects, we studied the dynamics of STN-GPe network using numerical simulations. In particular, we used a neuron model, in which firing rates and spike bursting can be independently controlled. Using this model, we found that while STN firing rate is predictive of oscillations, GPe firing rate is not. The effect of spike bursting in STN and GPe neurons was state-dependent. That is, only when the network was operating in a state close to the border of oscillatory and non-oscillatory regimes, spike bursting had a qualitative effect on the β band oscillations. In these network states, an increase in GPe bursting enhanced the oscillations whereas an equivalent proportion of spike bursting in STN suppressed the oscillations. These results provide new insights into the mechanisms underlying the transient β bursts and how duration and power of β band oscillations may be controlled by an interplay of GPe and STN firing rates and spike bursts.

Low delta and high alpha power are associated with better conflict control and working memory in high mindfulness, low anxiety individuals

Working memory capacity (WMC) can predict conflict control ability. Measures of both abilities are impaired by anxiety, which is often inversely linked with mindfulness. It has been shown that a combination of high mindfulness and low anxiety is associated with better conflict control and WMC. The current study explored the electrophysiology related to such behavioral differences. Two experimental groups, one with high mindfulness and low anxiety (HMLA) and one with low mindfulness and high anxiety (LMHA), performed a color Stroop task and a change detection task, both with simultaneous electroencephalogram (EEG) recording. An advanced EEG analytical approach, Hilbert–Huang transform (HHT) analysis, was employed. This is regarded as a robust method to analyze non-linear and non-stationary signals. Lower delta activity at posterior temporal and occipital regions was seen in the HMLA group for the Stroop conflict conditions and might be generally associated with higher accuracy in this group and indicative of higher attentiveness. Higher accuracy rates and WMC were seen in the HMLA group and might be specifically associated with the higher alpha activity observed in prefrontal cortex, fronto-central and centro-parietal regions in this group. Future studies should explore how mindfulness and anxiety can independently affect these cognitive functions and their associated neurophysiology.

Memory deficits in Parkinson's disease are associated with reduced beta power modulation

There is an increasing recognition of the significant non-motor symptoms that burden people with Parkinson's disease. As such, there is a pressing need to better understand and investigate the mechanisms underpinning these non-motor deficits. The electrical activity within the brains of people with Parkinson's disease is known to exhibit excessive power within the beta range (12-30 Hz), compared with healthy controls. The weight of evidence suggests that this abnormally high level of beta power is the cause of bradykinesia and rigidity in Parkinson's disease. However, less is known about how the abnormal beta rhythms seen in Parkinson's disease impact on non-motor symptoms. In healthy adults, beta power decreases are necessary for successful episodic memory formation, with greater power decreases during the encoding phase predicting which words will subsequently be remembered. Given the raised levels of beta activity in people with Parkinson's disease, we hypothesized that the necessary decrease in power during memory encoding would be diminished and that this would interfere with episodic memory formation. Accordingly, we conducted a cross-sectional, laboratory-based experimental study to investigate whether there was a direct relationship between decreased beta modulation and memory formation in Parkinson's disease. Electroencephalography recordings were made during an established memory-encoding paradigm to examine brain activity in a cohort of adults with Parkinson's disease (N = 28, 20 males) and age-matched controls (N = 31, 18 males). The participants with Parkinson's disease were aged 65 ± 6 years, with an average disease duration of 6 ± 4 years, and tested on their normal medications to avoid the confound of exacerbated motor symptoms. Parkinson's disease participants showed impaired memory strength (P = 0.023) and reduced beta power decreases (P = 0.014) relative to controls. Longer disease duration was correlated with a larger reduction in beta modulation during encoding, and a concomitant reduction in memory performance. The inability to sufficiently decrease beta activity during semantic processing makes it a likely candidate to be the central neural mechanism underlying this type of memory deficit in Parkinson's disease. These novel results extend the notion that pathological beta activity is causally implicated in the motor and (lesser appreciated) non-motor deficits inherent to Parkinson's disease. These findings provide important empirical evidence that should be considered in the development of intelligent next-generation therapies.

Deep brain stimulation modulates pallidal and subthalamic neural oscillations in Tourette's syndrome

INTRODUCTION

Previous studies found subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN-DBS) has clinical effect on Parkinson's disease, dystonia, and obsessive compulsive disorder. It is noteworthy that only a few studies report the STN-DBS for Tourette's syndrome (TS). Globus pallidus interna (GPi)-DBS is the one of the most common targets for TS. So, this paper aims to investigate the neural oscillations in STN and GPi as well as the DBS effect between these two targets in same patients.

METHODS

The local field potentials (LFPs) were simultaneously recorded from the bilateral GPi and STN in four patients with TS. The LFPs were decomposed into neural oscillations, and the frequency and time-frequency characteristics of the neural oscillations were analyzed across the conditions of resting, poststimulation, and movement.

RESULTS

No difference of resting LFP was found between the two targets. The poststimulation period spectral power revealed the high beta and gamma oscillations were recovered after GPi-DBS but remained attenuated after STN-DBS. The STN beta oscillation has fewer changes during tics than voluntary movement, and the gamma oscillation was elevated when the tics appeared.

CONCLUSION

The high beta and gamma oscillations in GPi restored after GPi-DBS, but not STN-DBS. High beta and gamma oscillations may have physiological function in resisting tics in TS. The cortex compensation effect might be interfered by the STN-DBS due to the influence on the hyper-direct pathway but not GPi-DBS.

Cognitive control involves theta power within trials and beta power across trials in the prefrontal-subthalamic network

There is increasing evidence that the medial prefrontal cortex participates in conflict and feedback monitoring while the subthalamic nucleus adjusts actions. Yet how these two structures coordinate their activity during cognitive control remains poorly understood. We recorded from the human prefrontal cortex and the subthalamic nucleus simultaneously while participants (n = 22) performed a novel task involving high conflict trials, complete response inhibition trials, and trial-to-trial behavioural adaptations to conflict and errors. Overall, we found that within-trial adaptions to both conflict and complete response inhibition involved changes in the theta band while across-trial behavioural adaptations to both conflict and errors involved changes in the beta band (P < 0.05). Yet the role each region's theta and beta oscillations played during the task differed significantly between the two sites. Trials that involved either within-trial conflict or complete response inhibition were associated with increased theta phase synchrony between the medial prefrontal cortex and the subthalamic nucleus (P < 0.05). Despite increased synchrony, however, increases in prefrontal theta power were associated with response inhibition, while increases in subthalamic theta power were associated with response execution (P < 0.05). In the beta band, post-response increases in prefrontal beta power were suppressed when the completed trial contained either conflict or an erroneous response (P < 0.05). Subthalamic beta power, on the other hand, was only modified during the subsequent trial that followed a conflict or error trial. Notably, these adaptation trials exhibited slower response times (P < 0.05), suggesting that both brain regions contribute to across-trial adaptations but do so at different stages of the adaptation process. Taken together, our data shed light on the mechanisms underlying within-trial and across-trial cognitive control and how disruption of this network can negatively impact cognition. More broadly, however, our data also demonstrate that the specific role of a brain region, rather than the frequency being utilized, governs the behavioural correlates of oscillatory activity.

Adaptive deep brain stimulation as advanced Parkinson's disease treatment (ADAPT study): protocol for a pseudo-randomised clinical study

INTRODUCTION

Adaptive deep brain stimulation (aDBS), based on the detection of increased beta oscillations in the subthalamic nucleus (STN), has been assessed in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) during the immediate postoperative setting. In these studies, aDBS was shown to be at least as effective as conventional DBS (cDBS), while stimulation time and side effects were reduced. However, the effect of aDBS on motor symptoms and stimulation-induced side effects during the chronically implanted phase (after the stun effect of DBS placement has disappeared) has not yet been determined.

METHODS AND ANALYSIS

This protocol describes a single-centre clinical study in which aDBS will be tested in 12 patients with PD undergoing battery replacement, with electrodes implanted in the STN, and as a proof of concept in the internal globus pallidus. Patients included will be allocated in a pseudo-randomised fashion to a three-condition (no stimulation/cDBS/ aDBS), cross-over design. A battery of tests will be conducted and recorded during each condition, which aim to measure the severity of motor symptoms and side effects. These tests include a tablet-based tapping test, a subscale of the Movement Disorder Society-unified Parkinson's disease rating scale (subMDS-UPDRS), the Speech Intelligibility Test (SIT) and a tablet-based version of the Stroop test. SubMDS-UPDRS and SIT recordings will be blindly assessed by independent raters. Data will be analysed using a linear mixed-effects model.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

This protocol was approved by the Ethical Committee of the University Medical Centre Groningen, where the study will be carried out. Data management and compliance to research policies and standards of our centre, including data privacy, storage and veracity, will be controlled by an independent monitor. All the scientific findings derived from this protocol are aimed to be made public through publication of articles in international journals.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

NTR 5456; Pre-results.

Non-selective inhibition of inappropriate motor-tendencies during response-conflict by a fronto-subthalamic mechanism

To effectively interact with their environment, humans must often select actions from multiple incompatible options. Existing theories propose that during motoric response-conflict, inappropriate motor activity is actively (and perhaps non-selectively) suppressed by an inhibitory fronto-basal ganglia mechanism. We here tested this theory across three experiments. First, using scalp-EEG, we found that both outright action-stopping and response-conflict during action-selection invoke low-frequency activity of a common fronto-central source, whose activity relates to trial-by-trial behavioral indices of inhibition in both tasks. Second, using simultaneous intracranial recordings from the basal ganglia and motor cortex, we found that response-conflict increases the influence of the subthalamic nucleus on M1-representations of incorrect response-tendencies. Finally, using transcranial magnetic stimulation, we found that during the same time period when conflict-related STN-to-M1 communication is increased, cortico-spinal excitability is broadly suppressed. Together, these findings demonstrate that fronto-basal ganglia networks buttress action-selection under response-conflict by rapidly and non-selectively net-inhibiting inappropriate motor tendencies.

Errors in Action Timing and Inhibition Facilitate Learning by Tuning Distinct Mechanisms in the Underlying Decision Process

Goal-directed behavior requires integrating action selection processes with learning systems that adapt control using environmental feedback. These functions are known to intersect at a common neural substrate with multiple known targets of plasticity (the cortico-basal ganglia-thalamic network), suggesting that feedback signals have a multifaceted impact on future decisions. Using a hybrid of accumulation-to-bound decision models and reinforcement learning, we modeled the performance of humans in a stop signal task where participants (N 75: 37 males, 38 females) learned the prior distribution of the timing of a stop signal through trial-and-error feedback. Changes in the drift rate of the action execution process were driven by errors in action timing, whereas adaptation in the boundary height served to increase caution following failed stops. These findings highlight two interactive learning mechanisms for adapting the control of goal-directed actions based on dissociable dimensions of feedback error.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Many complex behavioral goals rely on the ability to regulate the timing of action execution while also maintaining enough control to cancel actions in response to "Stop" cues in the environment. Here we examined how these fundamental components of behavior become tuned to the control demands of the environment by combining principles of reinforcement learning with accumulation-to-bound models. Model fits to behavioral data in an adaptive stop signal task revealed two adaptive mechanisms: (1) timing error-related changes in the rate of the execution signal; and (2) an increase in the execution boundary after failed stops. These findings demonstrate unique effects of timing and control errors on the underlying mechanisms of control, the rate and threshold of accumulating action signals.