Ahmad Alhourani, Spring 2020 ASSFN Resident Award RecipientInhibitory control is a critical element of human cognition, making it possible to suppress or prevent undesired behaviors. Inhibitory control deficits are a core feature of neurodegenerative (e.g., Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease) and neuropsychiatric diseases that generate tremendous economic burdens and disrupt quality of life. The subthalamic nucleus, a key node in the cortical-striatal circuitry that is involved in inhibitory control, is thought to delay or stop an unwanted motor plan. However, the precise cortical mechanisms and timing characteristics that drive the STN inhibitory signals remain unclear. Understanding how these pathways differentially contribute to inhibitory control is crucial for guiding emerging neuromodulatory therapies for neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases. An emerging hypothesis posits that Prefrontal Cortex (PFC) activity modulates STN activity to generate early global inhibitory signal to halt all ongoing action plans to afford more time to respond, followed by a more targeted inhibitory signal projecting to the basal ganglia to selectively suppress the conflicting action impulse.
We will employ simultaneous recordings from the PFC, striatum and STN from movement disorder patients undergoing deep brain stimulation while performing cognitive tasks to determine the temporal and spatial characteristics of inhibitory control signaling using connectivity analysis and event-based stimulation.
