Interaction between rhythms in the human basal ganglia: application of bispectral analysis to local field potentials

The application of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for the treatment of Parkinson's disease offered a direct "insight" into the human electrical activity in subcortical structures. The analysis of the oscillatory activity [local field potentials (LFPs)] disclosed the importance of rhythms and of interactions between rhythms in the human basal ganglia information processing. The aim of this study was to investigate the existence of possible nonlinear interactions between LFP rhythms characterizing the output structure of the basal ganglia, the globus pallidus internus, by means of bispectral analysis. The results of this study disclosed that the rhythms expressed in the globus pallidus internus of the untreated parkinsonian patient are not independent and, in particular, the low-beta (13-20 Hz) band generates harmonics that are included in the high-beta (20-35 Hz) band. Conversely, in the dystonic globus pallidus, as well as in the parkinsonian globus pallidus after dopaminergic medication (i.e., in the more "normal" condition), the rhythms are substantially independent and characterized by a strong activity in the low-frequency band that generates a second harmonic (4-14 Hz), mostly included in the same band. The interactions between rhythms in the human globus pallidus are therefore different in different pathologies and in different patient's states. The interpretation of these interactions is likely critical for fully understanding the role of LFP rhythms in the pathophysiology of human basal ganglia.