Ruxue Gong | Beta-gamma phase amplitude coupling as a biomarker of Parkinson's disease

Enhanced phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) between beta (13-30Hz) and broadband gamma (50-150Hz) oscillations has been suggested to be a biomarker of Parkinson’s disease (PD). It can be measured with non-invasive scalp EEG. However, the spatial origin and the neural mechanisms of PAC are still obscure, limiting its possible use for understanding and treating PD. In this talk, I will present our work using EEG source localization techniques to more precisely locate PAC in the brains of PD patients and healthy controls from scalp EEG. Besides, I will discuss the spatio-temporal characteristics of regional PAC and the related potential mechanisms underlying abnormal PAC. We demonstrated that beta and gamma activities involved in the abnormal PAC are not exclusively generated by a single oscillator. And the abnormal PAC generated from the interaction of beta and gamma frequency components across independent networks was more related to the Parkinsonian motor impairment than PAC originating from the interaction of components of the same network. Together, this talk will outline new insights into the pathological mechanisms of PAC in PD on both macroscopic and mesoscopic scale by non-invasive EEG.