Many language functions are traditionally assigned to cortical brain areas, leaving the contributions of subcortical structures to language processing largely unspecified. The present study examines a potential role of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) in lexical processing, specifically, reading aloud of words (e.g., ‘fate’) and pseudowords (e.g., ‘fape’). We recorded local field potentials simultaneously from the STN and the cortex (precentral, postcentral, and superior temporal gyri) of 13 people with Parkinson's disease undergoing awake deep brain stimulation and compared STN's lexicality-related neural activity with that of the cortex. Both STN and cortical activity demonstrated significant task-related modulations, but the lexicality effects were different in the two brain structures. In the STN, an increase in gamma band activity (31–70 Hz) was present in pseudoword trials compared to word trials during subjects' spoken response. In the cortex, a greater decrease in beta band activity (12–30 Hz) was observed for pseudowords in the precentral gyrus. Additionally, 11 individual cortical sites showed lexicality effects with varying temporal and topographic characteristics in the alpha and beta frequency bands. These findings suggest that the STN and the sampled cortical regions are involved differently in the processing of lexical distinctions.

许多语言功能传统上分配给大脑皮层区域，而皮层下结构对语言处理的贡献在很大程度上未明确。本研究考察了丘脑底核（STN）在词汇处理中的潜在作用，特别是朗读单词（例如，'fate'）和伪词（例如，'fape'）。我们同时记录了 13 名接受清醒深部脑刺激的帕金森病患者的 STN 和皮质（中央前、中央后和颞上回）的局部场电位，并将 STN 的词汇相关神经活动与皮质的神经活动进行了比较。STN 和皮质活动都表现出显着的任务相关调制，但两种大脑结构中的词汇效应不同。在 STN 中，与受试者口语反应期间的单词试验相比，伪词试验中的伽马带活动（31-70 Hz）增加。在皮质中，观察到中央前回中的伪词的 β 波段活动（12-30 Hz）有更大的下降。此外，11 个单独的皮质部位在 α 和 β 频带中表现出具有不同时间和地形特征的词汇效应。这些发现表明，STN 和采样的皮层区域在处理词汇区别时的参与程度不同。11 个单独的皮层位点在 α 和 β 频段显示出具有不同时间和地形特征的词汇效应。这些发现表明，STN 和采样的皮层区域在处理词汇区别时的参与程度不同。11 个单独的皮层位点在 α 和 β 频段显示出具有不同时间和地形特征的词汇效应。这些发现表明，STN 和采样的皮层区域在处理词汇区别时的参与程度不同。