Altered Basal Ganglia Network Topology Associated With Auditory-Motor Synchronization

Auditory-motor synchronization (AMS) embedded in Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation (RAS) is a validated method to improve gait, upper limb function, and motor speech in people with neurologic disorders like Parkinson's disease (PD). Predictable auditory cues optimize spatial movement patterns, and research has suggested that AMS reduces the brain's reliance on dopaminergic (DA) response in the ventral striatum. To gain a mechanistic understanding of the positive clinical outcomes related to AMS, this pilot study investigates the effects of AMS on the basal ganglia network (BGN) using brain network science methods.

Fourteen healthy adults (aged 22-37, seven females) completed two fMRI finger tapping tasks, a self-paced continuation (self) task and an auditory-motor synchronized (sync) task, both performed at 1 Hz. Using a modularity analysis of brain network data, we assessed the spatial consistency of the BGN. Additionally, we used a mixed-effects regression framework to test the hypotheses that changes in global and local efficiency are associated with the experimental tasks.

The spatial consistency of the BGN community was significantly greater in the sync task compared to the self task. Then, the regression model showed a significant change in the BGN's efficiency in the sync task over the self task. Specifically, the probability and the strength of connections between highly efficient nodes were significantly greater, indicating a more synchronized BGN.

AMS significantly changed the network topology of the BGN compared to no AMS. Specifically, the BGN became more functionally synchronized with AMS due to, mainly, greater network efficiency. These findings contribute to the growing mechanistic knowledge of how the BGN functional connections change with AMS and why AMS is a powerful tool to treat neurologic disorders such as PD.