Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry logoLink to Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry
. 1999 Apr;66(4):442–446. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.66.4.442

Impairment of EEG desynchronisation before and during movement and its relation to bradykinesia in Parkinson's disease

H Wang 1, A Lees 1, P Brown 1
PMCID: PMC1736289  PMID: 10201414

Abstract

OBJECTIVE—It has been suggested that the basal ganglia act to release cortical elements from idling (α) rhythms so that they may become coherent in the γ range, thereby binding together those distributed activities necessary for the effective selection and execution of a motor act. This hypothesis was tested in 10 patients with idiopathic Parkinson's disease.
METHODS—Surface EEG was recorded during self paced squeezing of the hand and elbow flexion performed separately, simultaneously, or sequentially. Recordings were made after overnight withdrawal of medication and, again, 1 hour after levodopa. The medication related improvement in EEG desynchronisation (in the 7.5-12.5 Hz band) over the 1 second before movement and during movement were separately correlated with the improvement in movement time for each electrode site. Correlation coefficients (r) > 0.632were considered significant (p<0.05).
RESULTS—Improvement in premovement desynchronisation correlated with reduction in bradykinesia over the contralateral sensorimotor cortex and supplementary motor area in flexion and squeeze, respectively. However, when both movements were combined either simultaneously or sequentially, this correlation shifted anteriorly, to areas overlying prefrontal cortex. Improvement in EEG desynchronisation during movement only correlated with reduction in bradykinesia in two tasks. Correlation was seen over the supplementary motor area during flexion, and central prefrontal and ipsilateral premotor areas during simultaneous flex and squeeze.
CONCLUSIONS—The results are consistent with the idea that the basal ganglia liberate frontal cortex from idling rhythms, and that this effect is focused and specific in so far as it changes with the demands of the task. In particular, the effective selection and execution of more complex tasks is associated with changes over the prefrontal cortex.



Full Text

The Full Text of this article is available as a PDF (154.5 KB).

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Alexander G. E., Crutcher M. D., DeLong M. R. Basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuits: parallel substrates for motor, oculomotor, "prefrontal" and "limbic" functions. Prog Brain Res. 1990;85:119–146. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Benecke R., Dick J. P., Rothwell J. C., Day B. L., Marsden C. D. Increase of the Bereitschaftspotential in simultaneous and sequential movements. Neurosci Lett. 1985 Dec 18;62(3):347–352. doi: 10.1016/0304-3940(85)90573-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Benecke R., Rothwell J. C., Dick J. P., Day B. L., Marsden C. D. Disturbance of sequential movements in patients with Parkinson's disease. Brain. 1987 Apr;110(Pt 2):361–379. doi: 10.1093/brain/110.2.361. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Benecke R., Rothwell J. C., Dick J. P., Day B. L., Marsden C. D. Performance of simultaneous movements in patients with Parkinson's disease. Brain. 1986 Aug;109(Pt 4):739–757. doi: 10.1093/brain/109.4.739. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Benecke R., Rothwell J. C., Dick J. P., Day B. L., Marsden C. D. Simple and complex movements off and on treatment in patients with Parkinson's disease. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1987 Mar;50(3):296–303. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.50.3.296. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Brown P. Muscle sounds in Parkinson's disease. Lancet. 1997 Feb 22;349(9051):533–535. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(97)80086-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Defebvre L., Bourriez J. L., Derambure P., Duhamel A., Guieu J. D., Destee A. Influence of chronic administration of L-DOPA on event-related desynchronization of mu rhythm preceding voluntary movement in Parkinson's disease. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1998 Apr;109(2):161–167. doi: 10.1016/s0924-980x(97)00085-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Defebvre L., Derambure P., Bourriez J. L., Jacquesson J. M., Dujardin K., Destée A., Guieu J. D. Spatiotemporal study of event-related desynchronization in idiopathic Parkinson's disease. Adv Neurol. 1993;60:422–428. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Douek M., Vaidya J. S., Lakhani S. R., Hall-Craggs M. A., Baum M., Taylor I. Can magnetic-resonance imaging help elucidate natural history of breast cancer multicentricity? Lancet. 1998 Mar 14;351(9105):801–802. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(98)24011-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Halsband U., Matsuzaka Y., Tanji J. Neuronal activity in the primate supplementary, pre-supplementary and premotor cortex during externally and internally instructed sequential movements. Neurosci Res. 1994 Aug;20(2):149–155. doi: 10.1016/0168-0102(94)90032-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Homan R. W., Herman J., Purdy P. Cerebral location of international 10-20 system electrode placement. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1987 Apr;66(4):376–382. doi: 10.1016/0013-4694(87)90206-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Hughes A. J., Daniel S. E., Kilford L., Lees A. J. Accuracy of clinical diagnosis of idiopathic Parkinson's disease: a clinico-pathological study of 100 cases. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 1992 Mar;55(3):181–184. doi: 10.1136/jnnp.55.3.181. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Jahanshahi M., Jenkins I. H., Brown R. G., Marsden C. D., Passingham R. E., Brooks D. J. Self-initiated versus externally triggered movements. I. An investigation using measurement of regional cerebral blood flow with PET and movement-related potentials in normal and Parkinson's disease subjects. Brain. 1995 Aug;118(Pt 4):913–933. doi: 10.1093/brain/118.4.913. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Leocani L., Toro C., Manganotti P., Zhuang P., Hallett M. Event-related coherence and event-related desynchronization/synchronization in the 10 Hz and 20 Hz EEG during self-paced movements. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1997 May;104(3):199–206. doi: 10.1016/s0168-5597(96)96051-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Mushiake H., Inase M., Tanji J. Neuronal activity in the primate premotor, supplementary, and precentral motor cortex during visually guided and internally determined sequential movements. J Neurophysiol. 1991 Sep;66(3):705–718. doi: 10.1152/jn.1991.66.3.705. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Okano K., Tanji J. Neuronal activities in the primate motor fields of the agranular frontal cortex preceding visually triggered and self-paced movement. Exp Brain Res. 1987;66(1):155–166. doi: 10.1007/BF00236211. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Pfurtscheller G., Stancák A., Jr, Neuper C. Post-movement beta synchronization. A correlate of an idling motor area? Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1996 Apr;98(4):281–293. doi: 10.1016/0013-4694(95)00258-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Salmelin R., Forss N., Knuutila J., Hari R. Bilateral activation of the human somatomotor cortex by distal hand movements. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1995 Dec;95(6):444–452. doi: 10.1016/0013-4694(95)00193-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Steinmetz H., Fürst G., Meyer B. U. Craniocerebral topography within the international 10-20 system. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol. 1989 Jun;72(6):499–506. doi: 10.1016/0013-4694(89)90227-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Winstein C. J., Grafton S. T., Pohl P. S. Motor task difficulty and brain activity: investigation of goal-directed reciprocal aiming using positron emission tomography. J Neurophysiol. 1997 Mar;77(3):1581–1594. doi: 10.1152/jn.1997.77.3.1581. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES