title: Subthalamic deep brain stimulation in Parkinson׳s disease has no significant effect on perceptual timing in the hundreds of milliseconds range.
abstract: Bilateral, high-frequency stimulation of the basal ganglia (STN-DBS) is in widespread use for the treatment of the motor symptoms of Parkinson׳s disease (PD). We present here the first psychophysical investigation of the effect of STN-DBS upon perceptual timing in the hundreds of milliseconds range, with both duration-based (absolute) and beat-based (relative) tasks; 13 patients with PD were assessed with their STN-DBS 'on', 'off', and then 'on' again. Paired parametric analyses revealed no statistically significant differences for any task according to DBS status. We demonstrate, from the examination of confidence intervals, that any functionally relevant effect of STN-DBS on relative perceptual timing is statistically unlikely. For absolute, duration-based timing, we demonstrate that the activation of STN-DBS may either worsen performance or have no effect, but that it is unlikely to lead to significant improvement. Although these results are negative they have important implications for our understanding of perceptual timing and its relationship to motor functions within the timing network of the brain. They imply that the mechanisms involved in the perceptual processing of temporal information are likely to be functionally independent from those that underpin movement. Further, they suggest that the connections between STN and the subtantia nigra and globus pallidus are unlikely to be critical to beat-based perceptual timing.
authors.affiliation: Auditory Group, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom. Electronic address: thomascope@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Thomas E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Cope
authors.affiliation: Auditory Group, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Manon
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Grube
authors.affiliation: Auditory Group, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Arnab
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mandal
authors.affiliation: Auditory Group, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Freya E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Cooper
authors.affiliation: Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Una
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Brechany
authors.affiliation: Institute for Ageing and Health, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Burn
authors.affiliation: Auditory Group, Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Timothy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Griffiths
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000503:physiopathology; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000628:therapy*; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000502:physiology; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological; D020531:Subthalamic Nucleus / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: Deep brain stimulation; Parkinson׳s disease; Perceptual timing; Subthalamic nucleus