Dynamic Features of Motor Networks and Behavior in Parkinson's Disease

Karen Sigvardt
University of California, Davis

Oscillatory behavior is a ubiquitous, but yet not fully understood, feature of motor control networks. One of the behavioral manifestations of such oscillatory activity is the presence of tremors, which occur both in the normally functioning motor system and in a number of motor disorders, one of the best examples being the tremor associated with Parkinson's disease. The resurgence in recent years of microelectrode-guided surgical treatment of the motor symptoms of the disease has provided an opportunity to study the characteristics of neural activity within the basal ganglia and thalamus of parkinsonian patients. Our studies of the spatiotemporal dynamics of oscillatory activity in the basal ganglia and its relationship to tremor have provided insights into the types of networks in the brain that can support the dynamical features of the observed activity.

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