Nikulin V V, Marzinzik F, Wahl M, Schneider G-H, Kupsch A, Curio G, Klostermann F
Department of Neurology, Charité-University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
Neuroscience. 2008 Sep 9;155(4):1275-83. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2008.07.005. Epub 2008 Jul 10.
Responding to environmental stimuli in a fast manner is a fundamental behavioral capacity. The pace at which one responds is known to be predetermined by cortical areas, but it remains to be shown if subcortical structures also take part in defining motor swiftness. As the thalamus has previously been implicated in behavioral control, we tested if neuronal activity at this level could also predict the reaction time of upcoming movements. To this end we simultaneously recorded electrical brain activity from the scalp and the ventral intermediate nucleus (VIM) of the thalamus in patients undergoing thalamic deep brain stimulation. Based on trial-to-trial analysis of a Go/NoGo task, we demonstrate that both cortical and thalamic neuronal activity prior to the delivery of upcoming Go stimulus correlates with the reaction time. This result goes beyond the demonstration of thalamic activity being associated with but potentially staying invariant to motor performance. In contrast, it indicates that the latencies at which we respond to environmental stimuli are not exclusively related to cortical pre-movement states but are also correlated with anticipatory thalamic activity.
快速响应环境刺激是一种基本的行为能力。已知个体的反应速度由皮质区域预先决定，但尚不清楚皮质下结构是否也参与了运动敏捷性的定义。由于丘脑先前已被认为与行为控制有关，我们测试了该水平的神经元活动是否也能预测即将到来的运动的反应时间。为此，我们在接受丘脑深部脑刺激的患者中同时记录了头皮和丘脑腹中间核（VIM）的脑电活动。基于对Go/NoGo任务的逐次试验分析，我们证明在即将到来的Go刺激发出之前，皮质和丘脑神经元活动均与反应时间相关。这一结果不仅证明了丘脑活动与运动表现相关，而且可能保持不变。相反，它表明我们对环境刺激的反应潜伏期不仅与皮质运动前状态有关，还与丘脑的预期活动相关。
