title: Involvement of the subthalamic nucleus in cognitive functions -- a concept.
abstract: The involvement of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in a broad spectrum of various non-motor functions - attention, executive functions, verbal learning and memory, verbal abstract reasoning, conflict resolution, and emotions - has been reported. The STN has an anatomically central position within the basal ganglia(BG)-thalamocortical motor, associative and limbic circuits. The STN might interfere with non-motor functions as an indirect modulator rather than a regulator. Mechanisms modulating the motor and non-motor functions might differ. The STN has been implicated in control of non-motor behaviors via the tuning of specific circuits depending on the task. The STN might modulate selected non-motor functions via contextual modulation of certain cortical areas. Based on intracerebral recordings, we proposed that the non-motor activities in the BG are organized in some way other than the well-known organization of the cortico-BG-thalamocortical circuits. These findings support the hypothesis of a cortico-STN bypass of the BG-thalamocortical circuitry under some circumstances. The exact role of the STN and the BG in non-motor functions remains an important and interesting challenge for future research.
authors.affiliation: Central European Institute of Technology — CEITEC, Department of Neurology, St. Anne's University Hospital, Medical School of Masaryk University, Pekařská 53, 656 91 Brno, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baláž
authors.forename: Martina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bočková
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rektorová
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Rektor
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D020531:Subthalamic Nucleus / Q000502:physiology*