No difference in cognitive task-related oscillations between 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 (3-7 Hz) power in GPi and STN groups in a similar way. Response-triggered LFP beta power (13-25 Hz) 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. As both GPi and STN nuclei are involved in cognitive processing; therefore, these nuclei may be targeted for neuromodulation to improve cognitive control via DBS.