Department of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China; Department of Psychology (III), Julius-Maximilian-University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Department of Neurology, University Hospital of Würzburg and Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany.
Clin Neurophysiol. 2024 May;161:17-26. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2024.02.019. Epub 2024 Feb 19.
Both blinking and walking are altered in Parkinson's disease and both motor outputs have been shown to be linked in healthy subjects. Additionally, studies suggest an involvement of basal ganglia activity and striatal dopamine in blink generation. We investigated the role of the basal ganglia circuitry on spontaneous blinking and if this role is dependent on movement state and striatal dopamine.
We analysed subthalamic nucleus (STN) activity in seven chronically implanted patients for deep brain stimulation (DBS) with respect to blinks and movement state (resting state and unperturbed walking). Neurophysiological recordings were combined with individual molecular brain imaging assessing the dopamine reuptake transporter (DAT) density for the left and right striatum separately.
We found a significantly higher blink rate during walking compared to resting. The blink rate during walking positively correlated with the DAT density of the left caudate nucleus. During walking only, spontaneous blinking was followed by an increase in the right STN beta power and a bilateral subthalamic phase reset in the low frequencies. The right STN blink-related beta power modulation correlated negatively with the DAT density of the contralateral putamen. The left STN blink-related beta power correlated with the DAT density of the putamen in the less dopamine-depleted hemisphere. Both correlations were specific to the walking condition and to beta power following a blink.
Our findings show that spontaneous blinking is related to striatal dopamine and has a frequency specific deployment in the STN. This correlation depends on the current movement state such as walking.
This work indicates that subcortical activity following a motor event as well as the relationship between dopamine and motor events can be dependent on the motor state. Accordingly, disease related changes in brain activity should be assessed during natural movement.
眨眼和行走在帕金森病中都发生改变，并且在健康受试者中已经证明这两种运动输出是相关的。此外，研究表明基底神经节活动和纹状体多巴胺参与眨眼的产生。我们研究了基底神经节回路对自发性眨眼的作用，以及这种作用是否依赖于运动状态和纹状体多巴胺。
我们分析了 7 名接受深部脑刺激（DBS）治疗的慢性植入患者的丘脑底核（STN）活动，以了解眨眼和运动状态（静息状态和不受干扰的行走）之间的关系。神经生理记录与个体分子脑成像相结合，分别评估左、右纹状体的多巴胺再摄取转运体（DAT）密度。
我们发现行走时眨眼率明显高于静息时。行走时的眨眼率与左侧尾状核的 DAT 密度呈正相关。仅在行走时，自发性眨眼后右侧 STN β功率增加，双侧 STN 在低频下相位重置。右侧 STN 与眨眼相关的β功率调制与对侧壳核的 DAT 密度呈负相关。左侧 STN 与眨眼相关的β功率与多巴胺耗竭较少半球的壳核的 DAT 密度相关。这两种相关性都特定于行走状态和β功率跟随眨眼。
我们的发现表明，自发性眨眼与纹状体多巴胺有关，并且在 STN 中具有特定的频率分布。这种相关性取决于当前的运动状态，如行走。
这项工作表明，运动事件后的皮质下活动以及多巴胺与运动事件之间的关系可能取决于运动状态。因此，应该在自然运动期间评估与疾病相关的大脑活动变化。
