Title:
|
A neurophysiologically plausible model for the
origin of beta oscillations in Parkinson's Disease
|
Parkinson's disease is one of the most common neurodegenerative diseases,
yet despite its pervasiveness the underlying neural mechanisms of
its onset and progression are still the subject of debate.
One of the most important biomarkers of Parkinson 's disease is the occurrence
of excessive oscillations in the beta frequency range 10 - 30Hz
(dependent on species). These oscillations are found to be elevated in
the basal ganglia, particularly within the subthalamic nucleus (STN) and
globus pallidus external (GPe) in particular. Furthermore, the power of
excessive beta oscillations is correlated with the symptoms of bradykinesia
(slowness of movement) and muscle rigidity.
A theoretical study by Holgado et al. (2010) has shown that the loop
formed between the STN and GP can oscillate in the beta frequency
range. In addition they identified the conditions under which this circuit
could generate beta oscillations. This Thesis contributes to the field
by first extending this analysis by deriving improved analytic stability
conditions for realistic values of the synaptic transmission delay between
STN and GP neurons. The improved conditions were significantly closer
to the results of simulations for the range of synaptic transmission delays
measured experimentally. Furthermore, the analysis explained how
changes in cortical and striatal input to the STN-GP network influenced
oscillations generated by the circuit.
Despite the success of the model at reproducing a significant amount of
experimental data it did not explain a number of additional experimental
results: 1) The coherence of synchronous oscillations between STN
and Cortex, and 2) evidence that lesion or DBS outside the STN-GP
nuclei could also affect the power of the synchronous oscillations. To
address this data, the model was extended to include the dependence of
cortical input to STN on the feedback provided by the STN itself. This
feedback was via the output nuclei (globus pallidus internal) , thalamus
and so called hyperdirect pathway. It was found from an analysis of
this model that feedback can enhance the STN-GP's propensity to oscillate.
In addition, this model of beta oscillation generation was found
to reproduce experimental data by Tachibana et al. (2011), such as the
effects of blocking connections on oscillations, in a way that is distinct
and differentiable from other models of beta Dscillation generation.
|