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NPJ Parkinsons Dis 2021 Mar 2;7(1):20. Epub 2021 Mar 2.

KU Leuven, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Neurorehabilitation Research Group, B-3000, Leuven, Belgium.

The onset of freezing of gait (FOG) in Parkinson's disease (PD) is a critical milestone, marked by a higher risk of falls and reduced quality of life. FOG is associated with alterations in subcortical neural circuits, yet no study has assessed whether subcortical morphology can predict the onset of clinical FOG. In this prospective multimodal neuroimaging cohort study, we performed vertex-based analysis of grey matter morphology in fifty-seven individuals with PD at study entry and two years later. Read More

Neuroimage 2021 Feb 27:117919. Epub 2021 Feb 27.

Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; Robarts Research Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; The Brain and Mind Institute, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada; Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, University of Western Ontario, London, Canada. Electronic address:

Unilateral damage to the frontoparietal network typically impairs saccade target selection within the contralesional visual hemifield. Severity of deficits and the degree of recovery have been associated with widespread network dysfunction, yet it is not clear how these behavioural and functional changes relate with the underlying structural white matter tracts. Here, we investigated whether recovery after unilateral prefrontal cortex (PFC) lesions was associated with changes in white matter microstructure across large-scale frontoparietal cortical and thalamocortical networks. Read More

Behav Brain Res 2021 Feb 25:113208. Epub 2021 Feb 25.

Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA. Electronic address:

Individuals diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) often display behavioral impairments in executive functioning (EF). Specifically, the domains of working memory, inhibition, and set shifting are frequently impacted by prenatal alcohol exposure. Coordination between prefrontal cortex and hippocampus appear to be essential for these domains of executive functioning. Read More

Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2021 Feb 22. Epub 2021 Feb 22.

Aix Marseille Univ, INSERM, INS, Inst Neurosci Syst, Marseille, France. Electronic address:

The consolidation of declarative memories is believed to occur mostly during sleep and involves a dialogue between two brain regions, the hippocampus and the medial prefrontal cortex. The information encoded during experience by neuronal assemblies is replayed during sleep leading to the progressive strengthening and integration of the memory trace in the prefrontal cortex. The gradual transfer of information from the hippocampus to the medial prefrontal cortex for long-term storage requires the synchronization of cortico-hippocampal networks by different oscillations, like ripples, spindles, and slow oscillations. Read More

Neuroscience 2021 Feb 22. Epub 2021 Feb 22.

Department of Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics, Albany Medical College, Albany NY; Department of Neurology, Albany Medical Center, Albany NY. Electronic address:

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) in Parkinson's disease (PD) alters neuronal function and network communication to improve motor symptoms. The subthalamic nucleus (STN) is the most common DBS target for PD, but some patients experience adverse effects on memory and cognition. Previously, we reported that DBS of the ventral anterior (VA) and ventrolateral (VL) nuclei of the thalamus and at the interface between the two (VA|VL), collectively VA-VL, relieved forelimb akinesia in the hemiparkinsonian 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) rat model. Read More