title: Effects of deep brain stimulation of the peduncolopontine area on working memory tasks in patients with Parkinson's disease.
abstract: The present paper was aimed at investigating the effect of low-frequency electrical stimulation (25 Hz) of the peduncolopontine (PPN) area on working memory (WM) functioning in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Five PD patients who underwent simultaneous PPN area- and subthalamic nucleus-deep brain stimulation (DBS) implantation participated in the study. PD patients were evaluated in the morning at least 12 h after antiparkinsonian therapy withdrawal in two conditions: i) after continuous PPN area stimulation (Off Therapy/On PPN: "On" condition); ii) at least 120 min after PPN area had been switched "Off" (Off Ther/Off PPN: "Off" condition). The experimental WM task consisted of an n-back paradigm with verbal and visual-object stimuli. PD patients showed a consistent response time decrease on both the verbal and the visual-object tasks passing from the "Off" to the "On" condition (p < 0.05). However, the accuracy score did not significantly differ between the two experimental conditions. The present findings, although preliminary, suggest that PPN area stimulation facilitates the speed processing of information in the content of WM, possibly through the modulation of the attentional resources.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Neurologia Clinica e Comportamentale, I.R.C.C.S. Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome, Italy. a.costa@hsantalucia.it <a.costa@hsantalucia.it>
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Giovanni Augusto
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Carlesimo
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Caltagirone
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mazzone
authors.forename: Mariangela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pierantozzi
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stefani
authors.forename: Antonella
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Peppe
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000978:Antiparkinson Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D008570:Memory, Short-Term / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy; D045042:Pedunculopontine Tegmental Nucleus / Q000502:physiology*; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020531:Subthalamic Nucleus / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D000978:Antiparkinson Agents