The subthalamic nucleus is a key site controlling motor function in humans. Deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus can improve movements in patients with Parkinson’s disease; however, for unclear reasons, it can also have cognitive effects. Here, we show that the human subthalamic nucleus is monosynaptically connected with cognitive brain areas such as the prefrontal cortex. Single neurons and field potentials in the subthalamic nucleus are modulated during cognitive processing and are coherent with 4-Hz oscillations in medial prefrontal cortex. These data predict that low-frequency deep brain stimulation may alleviate cognitive deficits in Parkinson’s disease patients. In line with this idea, we found that novel 4-Hz deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus improved cognitive performance. These data support a role for the human hyperdirect pathway in cognitive control, which could have relevance for brain-stimulation therapies aimed at cognitive symptoms of human brain disease.

中文翻译：

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用于认知控制的人类前额丘脑-丘脑底回路

丘脑下核是控制人类运动功能的关键部位。丘脑底核的深部脑刺激可以改善帕金森氏病患者的运动；但是，由于不清楚的原因，它也会产生认知作用。在这里，我们显示了人类丘脑底核与认知大脑区域（例如前额叶皮层）单突触连接。丘脑膜下核中的单个神经元和场电位在认知过程中受到调节，并与内侧前额叶皮层的4 Hz振荡相干。这些数据表明，低频深部脑刺激可以缓解帕金森氏病患者的认知功能障碍。符合这个想法，我们发现丘脑下丘脑核的新型4-Hz深脑刺激改善了认知能力。