Even simple daily actions, such as grasping a glass, can become challenging in patients with Parkinson’s Disease (PD). In addition to the motor execution deficits, PD patients seem to show a deficient functioning of the performance monitoring system (Farooqui et al., 2011). Previous studies on error monitoring in people with PD showed contrasting results; a few studies found the typical error-related signatures (i.e. error-related negativity, ERN; positivity error, Pe; theta oscillations) comparable to the ones showed by healthy elderly, while others showed a general decreased cortical response to erroneous actions. In particular, the evidence on the effects of the dopaminergic medication on the brain response to errors is still unclear (Holroyd et al., 2002; Stemmer et al., 2007; Willemssen et al., 2008; Cavanagh et al., 2018). In the present work, by combining EEG and immersive virtual reality (CAVE system), we investigated the mechanisms underlying the performance monitoring system in PD patients during the observation of reach-to-grasp a glass actions performed by an avatar in first person perspective. The preliminary sample included 8 PD tested twice, at a 2-weeks interval. Each patient was tested in two different states namely soon after assuming dopaminergic medication (‘Dopa-ON’) and 12-hour after assuming the medication (overnight washout; ‘Dopa-OFF’). The order of the medication state was counterbalanced across patients. 10 healthy elderly controls were also tested. Preliminary results replicate and expand our previous findings in young healhty participants (Pavone et al., 2016; Spinelli et al., 2017; Pezzetta et al., 2018) by showing that also healthy elderly exhibit an increased theta power activity (4-8Hz) after the observation of erroneous actions. Interestingly, the same pattern was not found in the PD group, regardless of whether they were in Dopa -ON or -OFF state. We also found a significant difference between correct and erroneous actions in the beta range (12-30Hz), with greater beta power in the erroneous actions, in elderly controls and Dopa-OFF participants. No such result was found in Dopa-ON participants, suggesting a link between the dopaminergic intake and the beta response to actions. Concerning the time-domain, we did not find an ERN, but all three groups showed the typical Positivity Error in response to the erroneous actions. However, in both Dopa-ON and -OFF groups the cortical potential showed lower amplitude compared to the healthy elderly. Although preliminary, these data can help to better understand the neural dynamics of action monitoring in Parkinson’s Disease.
Embodying action errors in virtual reality: preliminary EEG data on Parkinson’s Disease / Pezzetta, R.; Ozkan, D.; Tieri, G.; Zabberoni, S.; Peppe, A.; Costa, A.; Era, V.. - (2018). (Intervento presentato al convegno Società Italiana di Psicofisiologia (SIPF) tenutosi a Torino).
Embodying action errors in virtual reality: preliminary EEG data on Parkinson’s Disease
Pezzetta R.
;Ozkan D.;Tieri G.;Era V.
2018
Abstract
Even simple daily actions, such as grasping a glass, can become challenging in patients with Parkinson’s Disease (PD). In addition to the motor execution deficits, PD patients seem to show a deficient functioning of the performance monitoring system (Farooqui et al., 2011). Previous studies on error monitoring in people with PD showed contrasting results; a few studies found the typical error-related signatures (i.e. error-related negativity, ERN; positivity error, Pe; theta oscillations) comparable to the ones showed by healthy elderly, while others showed a general decreased cortical response to erroneous actions. In particular, the evidence on the effects of the dopaminergic medication on the brain response to errors is still unclear (Holroyd et al., 2002; Stemmer et al., 2007; Willemssen et al., 2008; Cavanagh et al., 2018). In the present work, by combining EEG and immersive virtual reality (CAVE system), we investigated the mechanisms underlying the performance monitoring system in PD patients during the observation of reach-to-grasp a glass actions performed by an avatar in first person perspective. The preliminary sample included 8 PD tested twice, at a 2-weeks interval. Each patient was tested in two different states namely soon after assuming dopaminergic medication (‘Dopa-ON’) and 12-hour after assuming the medication (overnight washout; ‘Dopa-OFF’). The order of the medication state was counterbalanced across patients. 10 healthy elderly controls were also tested. Preliminary results replicate and expand our previous findings in young healhty participants (Pavone et al., 2016; Spinelli et al., 2017; Pezzetta et al., 2018) by showing that also healthy elderly exhibit an increased theta power activity (4-8Hz) after the observation of erroneous actions. Interestingly, the same pattern was not found in the PD group, regardless of whether they were in Dopa -ON or -OFF state. We also found a significant difference between correct and erroneous actions in the beta range (12-30Hz), with greater beta power in the erroneous actions, in elderly controls and Dopa-OFF participants. No such result was found in Dopa-ON participants, suggesting a link between the dopaminergic intake and the beta response to actions. Concerning the time-domain, we did not find an ERN, but all three groups showed the typical Positivity Error in response to the erroneous actions. However, in both Dopa-ON and -OFF groups the cortical potential showed lower amplitude compared to the healthy elderly. Although preliminary, these data can help to better understand the neural dynamics of action monitoring in Parkinson’s Disease.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
