Beta and gamma frequency-range abnormalities in parkinsonian patients under cognitive sensorimotor task.

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder caused by a disruption of dopaminergic neurotransmission in the basal ganglia. Some of PD clinical symptoms are suggested to stem directly from the excessive synchrony between the basal ganglia and cortical circuits. Our present investigation explores the functional relationships between event-related desynchronization/synchronization (ERD/ERS) of beta and gamma band activity for idiopathic non-demented Parkinson's patients (PP) and control subjects (CS) during auditory discrimination tasks between two tone types (LT: 800 Hz, HT: 1000 Hz) within two post-stimulus intervals of 0-250 and 250-600 ms. Beta1 (13-20 Hz) ERD was found for both groups within both intervals more expressed in CS except for frontal beta1 synchronization in CS during the second interval. Beta2 (20-32 Hz) ERD was revealed in CS after both tones during both post-stimulus intervals. Beta2 ERS was only observed in PP. The most prominent beta2 ERS followed HT during the second interval. Gamma frequency (32-50 Hz) ERD was found in both groups except for fronto-parietal ERS for PP during the first interval after LT. During the second interval, either tone, we found prominent ERS for PP and ERD for CS everywhere except for a frontal ERS after HT. Deviations of the beta and gamma ERD/ERS for the PP compared with CS during the sensorimotor and cognitive processing are a clear evidence for disturbances in the temporal and regional integration of these frequency components and the relationships between cortical and the basal ganglia circuits in parkinsonism.

Event-related desynchronization/synchronization during discrimination task conditions in patients with Parkinson's disease.

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder with symptoms, which include movement disturbances and changes of cognitive information processing. The aim of the present study was to investigate the functional relationships between oscillatory electroencephalographic (EEG) dominant components with event-related desynchronization/synchronization (ERD/ERS) method for idiopathic non-demented Parkinson's patients (PP) and control subjects (CS) during auditory discrimination tasks within two post-stimulus intervals of 0-250 and 250-600 ms. When comparing the CS and PP during the first post-stimulus period, we found delta- and theta-ERS significantly pronounced in CS for both tone types (low--800, high--1,000 Hz) with the following exceptions: at Fz, PP displayed higher delta-ERS, while at C3' theta-ERD in response to a high tone. Alpha-ERS was found in PP in response to either tone at all electrodes and mainly alpha-ERD in CS. In the second post-stimulus interval, the significant differences between the groups were: (i) delta-ERS in CS and delta-ERD in PP in response to the low tone and (ii) delta-ERS for both groups in answer to the high tone, more prominent in CS at Cz and Pz, except for delta-ERD in PP at C3'. For both groups, we detected predominantly theta-ERD and alpha-ERD following both tone types within this second interval. PP showed more expressed theta-ERD at Fz and parietal theta-ERS. Alpha-ERD was significantly higher in CS, while frontal alpha-ERD was more prominent in the PP in response to both tones. The data obtained showed specific functional differences of event-related oscillatory activity in cognitive and sensory-motor information processing between the PP and CS.