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Neural and behavioral mechanisms of cognitive control in patients with movement disorders undergoing deep brain stimulation surgery

Poster Session D - Monday, March 9, 2026, 8:00 – 10:00 am PDT, Fairview/Kitsilano Ballroom

Archana Shashidhar Mysore¹ (), Marshall Holland¹, Jasmine Thum¹, Harrison Walker¹, Nicole Bentley¹; ¹University of Alabama at Birmingham

Cognitive control involves processing sensory information from the environment and identifying relevant cues to govern actions. Cognitive control occurs in an anticipatory (proactive) or late-corrective (reactive) manner. Patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) often exhibit impaired cognitive control and altered scalp potentials compared to healthy controls. However, the spatiotemporal dynamics of these EEG signals remain debated. We investigated the neural basis of cognitive control in patients with movement disorders using subdural electrocorticography (ECoG) recorded during deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery. Six patients (four PD and two essential tremor) performed the AX-continuous performance task (AX-CPT) intraoperatively. The task evaluates proactive and reactive control by requiring context-dependent responses to a conditioning cue – probe stimulus sequence. To assess neural dynamics of cognitive control, two six-contact subdural ECoG strips were temporarily placed: one anteriorly over dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and one posteriorly over the primary motor cortex (M1), ipsilateral to the DBS implant. All but one PD patient showed equal or lower error rates (<10% difference) and faster response times (0 - 300 ms) in the proactive compared to the reactive context. Spectral power analyses revealed increased theta (3-8.47 Hz) and lesser beta (12-32.8 Hz) activity in DLPFC during the anticipatory response interval in the proactive compared to the reactive context. This pattern may reflect active maintenance of task goals/responses and preparation of executive control networks. Ongoing analyses aim to further characterize the spatiotemporal organization of spectral power across recording sites, hemispheres, and patient groups to better understand disease-related alterations in cognitive control.

Topic Area: EXECUTIVE PROCESSES: Goal maintenance & switching