Altered Cerebellar Oscillations in Parkinson's Disease Patients during Cognitive and Motor Tasks

Structural and functional abnormalities in the cerebellar region have been shown in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). Since the cerebellar region has been associated with cognitive and lower-limb motor functions, it is imperative to study cerebellar oscillations in PD. Here, we evaluated cerebellar electroencephalography (EEG) during cognitive processing and lower-limb motor performances in PD. Cortical and cerebellar EEG were collected from 74 PD patients and 37 healthy control subjects during a 7-second interval timing task, 26 PD patients and 13 controls during a lower-limb pedaling task, and 23 PD patients during eyes-open/closed resting conditions. Analyses were focused on the mid-cerebellar Cbz electrode and further compared to the mid-occipital Oz and mid-frontal Cz electrodes. Increased alpha-band power was observed during the eyes-closed resting-state condition over Oz, but no change in alpha power was observed over Cbz. PD patients showed higher dispersion when performing the 7-second interval timing cognitive task and executed the pedaling motor task with reduced speed compared to controls. PD patients exhibited attenuated cue-triggered theta-band power over Cbz during both the interval timing and pedaling motor tasks. Connectivity measures between Cbz and Cz showed theta-band differences, but only during the pedaling motor task. Cbz oscillatory activity also differed from Oz across multiple frequency bands in both groups during both tasks. Our cerebellar EEG data along with previous magnetoencephalography and animal model studies clearly show alterations in cerebellar oscillations during cognitive and motor processing in PD.