Distinct population code for movement kinematics and changes of ongoing movements in human subthalamic nucleus

  1. Dennis London  Is a corresponding author
  2. Arash Fazl
  3. Kalman Katlowitz
  4. Marisol Soula
  5. Michael Pourfar
  6. Alon Mogilner
  7. Roozbeh Kiani  Is a corresponding author
  1. New York University, United States
  2. NYU Langone Health, United States

Abstract

The subthalamic nucleus (STN) is theorized to globally suppress movement through connections with downstream basal ganglia structures. Current theories are supported by increased STN activity when subjects withhold an uninitiated action plan, but a critical test of these theories requires studying STN responses when an ongoing action is replaced with an alternative. We perform this test in subjects with Parkinson's disease using an extended reaching task where the movement trajectory changes mid-action. We show that STN activity decreases during action switches, contrary to prevalent theories. Further, beta oscillations in the STN local field potential, which are associated with movement inhibition, do not show increased power or spiking entrainment during switches. We report an inhomogeneous population neural code in STN, with one sub-population encoding movement kinematics and direction and another encoding unexpected action switches. We suggest an elaborate neural code in STN that contributes to planning actions and changing the plans.

Data availability

All raw and processed data has been uploaded to Dryad. DOI: 10.5061/dryad.2jm63xsq2

The following data sets were generated

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Dennis London

    Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, United States
    For correspondence
    dennis.london@nyulangone.org
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-8134-2683
  2. Arash Fazl

    Center for Neuromodulation, Department of Neurosurgery, NYU Langone Health, New York, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Kalman Katlowitz

    Neuroscience Institute, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  4. Marisol Soula

    Neuroscience Institute, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  5. Michael Pourfar

    Center for Neuromodulation, Department of Neurosurgery, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  6. Alon Mogilner

    Center for Neuromodulation, Department of Neurosurgery, NYU Langone Health, New York, NY, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  7. Roozbeh Kiani

    Center for Neural Science, New York University, New York, United States
    For correspondence
    roozbeh@nyu.edu
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-0614-6791

Funding

Simons Collaboration on the Global Brain (542997,543009)

  • Roozbeh Kiani

McKnight Scholar Award

  • Roozbeh Kiani

Pew Scholarship in the Biomedical Sciences

  • Roozbeh Kiani

National Institutes of Mental Health R01 (MH109180-01)

  • Roozbeh Kiani

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Reviewing Editor

  1. Nicole C Swann, University of Oregon, United States

Ethics

Human subjects: Subjects signed informed consent including consent to publish. The study protocol was approved by the NYU School of Medicine Office of Science and Research Institutional Review Board. Study ID: S16-01855

Version history

  1. Preprint posted: November 12, 2020 (view preprint)
  2. Received: November 13, 2020
  3. Accepted: September 14, 2021
  4. Accepted Manuscript published: September 14, 2021 (version 1)
  5. Version of Record published: October 8, 2021 (version 2)

Copyright

© 2021, London et al.

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.

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  1. Dennis London
  2. Arash Fazl
  3. Kalman Katlowitz
  4. Marisol Soula
  5. Michael Pourfar
  6. Alon Mogilner
  7. Roozbeh Kiani
(2021)
Distinct population code for movement kinematics and changes of ongoing movements in human subthalamic nucleus
eLife 10:e64893.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.64893

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.64893

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