Brain oscillations may represent a continuum from healthy to impaired movement speed

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Date

2021

Authors

Leriche, Ryan

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of Oregon

Abstract

Our motor nervous system allows us to engage seamlessly with our environment. However, Parkinson’s Disease (PD) patients often struggle to walk, eat, and even dress themselves due to their slowed and rigid movements. Electrical brain waves in the "beta band” (frequencies between 13-30 Hz) fluctuate throughout movement, but PD patients have elevated beta band synchrony across brain regions (thalamo-cortical-basal ganglia networks). Currently, it is unclear if beta synchrony causes impaired movement in PD or slowed movement in general. My project addresses how the beta band modulates with movement speed in healthy people. Our behavioral paradigm gave participants more time to respond in slow blocks than fast blocks (the so-called slowfast task). This led to longer reaction times in slow blocks than fast blocks. As they completed the slowfast task, electroencephalography was recorded by placing electrodes on their scalp. This allowed us to see how these movement speed blocks affected beta oscillations. Slow blocks had elevated beta activity prior to movement, but less beta activity after movement compared to fast blocks. Since the beta band was modulated less in slow blocks, like some studies of PD patients, this could mean that participants were in an experimentally induced slowed/inflexible movement state. We conclude that beta oscillations may influence motor speed on a continuum with PD patients as an extreme example of impaired movement and elevated beta synchrony.

Description

1 page.

Keywords

movement, EEG, beta, oscillation, speed

Citation