Queensland Brain Institute, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
St. Andrews Hospital and University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
Nat Neurosci. 2014 Mar;17(3):449-54. doi: 10.1038/nn.3642. Epub 2014 Feb 2.
The pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) is a part of the mesencephalic locomotor region and is thought to be important for the initiation and maintenance of gait. Lesions of the PPN induce gait deficits, and the PPN has therefore emerged as a target for deep brain stimulation for the control of gait and postural disability. However, the role of the PPN in gait control is not understood. Using extracellular single-unit recordings in awake patients, we found that neurons in the PPN discharged as synchronous functional networks whose activity was phase locked to alpha oscillations. Neurons in the PPN responded to limb movement and imagined gait by dynamically changing network activity and decreasing alpha phase locking. Our results indicate that different synchronous networks are activated during initial motor planning and actual motion, and suggest that changes in gait initiation in Parkinson's disease may result from disrupted network activity in the PPN.
被盖脚桥核（PPN）是中脑运动区的一部分，被认为对启动和维持步态很重要。PPN 的损伤会导致步态缺陷，因此 PPN 已成为深部脑刺激治疗步态和姿势障碍的靶点。然而，PPN 在步态控制中的作用尚不清楚。通过对清醒患者的细胞外单单元记录，我们发现 PPN 中的神经元以同步功能网络的形式放电，其活动与 alpha 振荡锁相。PPN 中的神经元通过动态改变网络活动和减少 alpha 相位锁定来响应肢体运动和想象中的步态。我们的研究结果表明，在初始运动规划和实际运动过程中会激活不同的同步网络，并且表明帕金森病中步态起始的改变可能是由于 PPN 中的网络活动中断所致。
