Hemispheric asymmetry of globus pallidus relates to alpha modulation in reward-related attentional tasks

Abstract

19 20Although basal ganglia (BG) functions have been widely explored in relation to motor 21 control, recent evidence suggests that their mechanisms extend to the domain of attentional 22 switching. We here investigated the BG involvement in reward related top-down control of 23 visual alpha-band oscillations (8 -13 Hz), which have been linked to the mechanisms 24 supporting the allocation of spatial attention. Given that items associated with contextual 25 saliency (e.g. monetary reward or loss) attract attention, it is not surprising that alpha 26 oscillations are further modulated by the saliency properties of the visual items. The 27 executive network controlling such reward-dependent modulations of oscillatory brain 28activity has yet to be elucidated, and likely relies on the contribution of subcortical regions. 29To uncover this, we investigated whether derived measures of basal ganglia (BG) structural 30 asymmetries could predict interhemispheric modulation of alpha power, during a spatial 31 attention task. We show that volumetric lateralization of the globus pallidus (GP) 32 significantly explains individual hemispheric biases in alpha power modulation. Importantly, 33 this effect varied as a function of value-saliency parings in the task. We hence provide 34 compelling evidence suggesting that the GP in humans is a node within the executive control 35 network, implicated in reward related top-down control of visual alpha oscillations during 36 saliency processing.

Dorsal-to-ventral imbalance in the superior longitudinal fasciculus mediates methylphenidate’s effect on beta oscillations in ADHD

“…Consistent with the methods implemented in previous work (50), and given the relative heterogeneity of current results in the field (33,51,52), we implemented a data driven strategy aimed at selecting the optimal set of or regressors to be included in the model.…”

Subcortical volumetric alterations in four major psychiatric disorders: A mega-analysis study of 5604 subjects and a volumetric data-driven approach for classification

“…34 Furthermore, volumetric lateralization of pallidum and thalamus explains individual hemispheric biases in the ability to modulate posterior alpha power, which is related to the allocation of visuospatial attention. 35 While the ENIGMA WGs explored lateralization for subcortical volumes in MDD 36 and ASD, 37 there has been no large-scale study so far that simultaneously investigates that in SZ, BP, MDD, and ASD. In particular, it should be investigated whether a leftward alteration of lateralization for pallidum volume is seen in psychiatric disorders other than SZ.…”