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Preliminary evidence for human globus pallidus pars interna neurons signaling reward and sensory stimuli.


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Authors

Howell, Nicholas A 
Prescott, Ian A 
Lozano, Andres M 
Hodaie, Mojgan 

Abstract

The globus pallidus pars interna (GPi) is a component of the basal ganglia, a network of subcortical nuclei that process motor, associative, and limbic information. While non-human primate studies have suggested a role for the GPi in non-motor functions, there have been no single-unit studies of non-motor electrophysiological behavior of human GPi neurons. We therefore sought to extend these findings by collecting single-unit recordings from awake patients during functional stereotactic neurosurgery targeting the GPi for deep brain stimulation. To assess cellular responses to non-motor information, patients performed a reward task where virtual money could be won, lost, or neither, depending on their performance while cellular activity was monitored. Changes in the firing rates of isolated GPi neurons after the presentation of reward-related stimuli were compared between different reward contingencies (win, loss, null). We observed neurons that modulated their firing rate significantly to the presentation of reward-related stimuli. We furthermore found neurons that responded to visual-stimuli more broadly. This is the first single-unit evidence of human GPi neurons carrying non-motor information. These results are broadly consistent with previous findings in the animal literature and suggest non-motor information may be represented in the single-unit activity of human GPi neurons.

Description

Keywords

basal ganglia, electrophysiology, globus pallidus pars interna, human neuroscience, reward, sensory, Action Potentials, Deep Brain Stimulation, Female, Globus Pallidus, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Movement Disorders, Neurons, Neuropsychological Tests, Reaction Time, Reward, Stereotaxic Techniques, Visual Perception

Journal Title

Neuroscience

Conference Name

Journal ISSN

0306-4522
1873-7544

Volume Title

328

Publisher

Elsevier BV
Sponsorship
Wellcome Trust (093875/Z/10/Z)
NAH is supported by a Unilever/Lipton Graduate Fellowship in Neuroscience and a University of Toronto Fellowship. WDH is supported by a CIHR operating grant (98006). VV is a Wellcome Trust (WT) intermediate Clinical Fellow (WT093705MA).