Session Information
Date: Wednesday, June 7, 2017
Session Title: Parkinson's Disease: Cognition
Session Time: 1:15pm-2:45pm
Location: Exhibit Hall C
Objective: The current research project focusses on the electrophysiological registration of semantics (body versus mental action verbs) within the thalamus, subthalamic nucleus (STN) and the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) within 1 week after DBS-implantation.
Background: Although semantic effects of subcortical modulation have been well described, it is unclear if semantic related local field potentials can be elicited in the main subcortical nuclei.
Methods: Patients: The current study included 18 patients with deep brain electrodes within the STN, 2 patients with electrodes in the thalamus and 1 male patient with PPN stimulation. All patients were non-medicated at the moment of testing.
Paradigms: The event-related potential (ERP)-paradigms consisted of 30 manual action verbs (body verbs, e.g. to sew, to point) and 30 verbs without manual action connotation (mental verbs, e.g. to leave, to develop).
Materials: EEG analysis (ERP-waveform and source localizing) was performed in all nuclei using BrainVision Analyzer 2 (Brain Products, Munich, Germany).
Results: The results of the current study demonstrate a grand average evoked potential (EP) between 200 and 470 ms for body action verbs within the left STN. Within the left thalamus a clear grand average can be seen between 500 and 800 msec in the action verbs and in the difference between action and non-action verbs. For the mental action verbs in the left thalamus a grand average EP can be shown between 300 and 680 ms. Within the PPN no grand average can be observed.
Conclusions: In contrast to the PPN, the left STN and thalamus seem to be involved in semantic processing, but on a different time window. The caudal part of the left STN demonstrates semantic activity in the same time window and cerebral side as on cortical level (300-400 ms in Zhang et al, 2004). This abstract has been presented as a poster for the Society for Neurobiology of language and for Science of Aphasia.
References: Zhang, Q., Guo, C., Ding, J., & Wang, Z. (2004). ERP Differences Between Processing of Body Action and Mental Action Verbs. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 36, 690-696.
To cite this abstract in AMA style:
M. De Letter, P. Santens, D. Van Roost, G. Strobbe, P. Van Mierlo, A. Aerts, A. Bruggeman, K. De Keyser. Subcortical involvement in body and mental action processing: an electrophysiological registration study [abstract]. Mov Disord. 2017; 32 (suppl 2). https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/subcortical-involvement-in-body-and-mental-action-processing-an-electrophysiological-registration-study/. Accessed May 18, 2025.« Back to 2017 International Congress
MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/subcortical-involvement-in-body-and-mental-action-processing-an-electrophysiological-registration-study/