Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford OX3 9DU, UK.
Brain. 2012 Jan;135(Pt 1):148-60. doi: 10.1093/brain/awr315. Epub 2012 Jan 9.
The pedunculopontine nucleus, a component of the reticular formation, is topographically organized in animal models and implicated in locomotor control. In Parkinson's disease, pedunculopontine nucleus stimulation is an emerging treatment for gait freezing. Local field potentials recorded from pedunculopontine nucleus electrodes in such patients have demonstrated oscillations in the alpha and beta frequency bands, reactive to self-paced movement. Whether these oscillations are topographically organized or relevant to locomotion is unknown. Here, we recorded local field potentials from the pedunculopontine nucleus in parkinsonian patients during rest and unconstrained walking. Relative gait speed was assessed with trunk accelerometry. Peaks of alpha power were present at rest and during gait, when they correlated with gait speed. Gait freezing was associated with attenuation of alpha activity. Beta peaks were less consistently observed across rest and gait, and did not correlate with gait speed. Alpha power was maximal in the caudal pedunculopontine nucleus region and beta power was maximal rostrally. These results indicate a topographic distribution of neuronal activity in the pedunculopontine nucleus region and concur with animal data suggesting that the caudal subregion has particular relevance to gait. Alpha synchronization, proposed to suppress 'task irrelevant' distraction, has previously been demonstrated to correlate with performance of cognitive tasks. Here, we demonstrate a correlation between alpha oscillations and improved gait performance. The results raise the possibility that stimulation of caudal and rostral pedunculopontine nucleus regions may differ in their clinical effects.
被盖核，网状结构的一部分，在动物模型中具有拓扑组织，并且与运动控制有关。在帕金森病中，被盖核刺激是一种新兴的治疗步态冻结的方法。在这些患者中，从被盖核电极记录的局部场电位显示出在α和β频带中的振荡，对自我启动的运动有反应。这些振荡是否具有拓扑组织或与运动有关尚不清楚。在这里，我们在帕金森病患者休息和不受限制的行走期间记录了被盖核的局部场电位。躯干加速度计评估相对步态速度。在休息和行走时都存在α功率峰值，与步态速度相关。步态冻结与α活动的衰减有关。β峰值在休息和行走时不太一致观察到，并且与步态速度无关。α功率在被盖核尾部区域最大，β功率在头部区域最大。这些结果表明被盖核区域的神经元活动具有拓扑分布，并且与动物数据一致，表明尾部亚区与步态具有特殊的相关性。α同步化，提出用于抑制“与任务无关的”分心，先前已经证明与认知任务的表现相关。在这里，我们证明了α振荡与改善步态性能之间存在相关性。结果提出了刺激被盖核尾部和头部区域可能在其临床效果上有所不同的可能性。
