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Neurophysiological investigation of auditory intensity dependence in patients with Parkinson’s disease

  • Neurology and Preclinical Neurological Studies - Original Article
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Abstract

There is accumulating evidence for auditory dysfunctions in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Moreover, a possible relationship has been suggested between altered auditory intensity processing and the hypophonic speech characteristics in PD. Nonetheless, further insight into the neurophysiological correlates of auditory intensity processing in patients with PD is needed primarily. In the present study, high-density EEG recordings were used to investigate intensity dependence of auditory evoked potentials (IDAEPs) in 14 patients with PD and 14 age- and gender-matched healthy control participants (HCs). Patients with PD were evaluated in both the on- and off-medication states. HCs were also evaluated twice. Significantly increased IDAEP of the N1/P2 was demonstrated in patients with PD evaluated in the on-medication state compared to HCs. Distinctive results were found for the N1 and P2 component. Regarding the N1 component, no differences in latency or amplitude were shown between patients with PD and HCs regardless of the medication state. In contrast, increased P2 amplitude was demonstrated in patients with PD evaluated in the on-medication state compared to the off-medication state and HCs. In addition to a dopaminergic deficiency, deficits in serotonergic neurotransmission in PD were shown based on increased IDAEP. Due to specific alterations of the N1–P2 complex, the current results suggest deficiencies in early-attentive inhibitory processing of auditory input in PD. This interpretation is consistent with the involvement of the basal ganglia and the role of dopaminergic and serotonergic neurotransmission in auditory gating.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a PhD fellowship grant of the Research Foundation—Flanders (FWO) awarded to KDK. PS is a senior clinical investigator at the Research Foundation—Flanders (FWO). The funding source had no role in study design, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the report.

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Contributions

Conceptualization: KDK, MDL, PS, DT, DB, AB; method: KDK, MDL, PS, DT, DB, AB; formal analysis and investigation: KDK; data interpretation: KDK, MDL, PS, DT, DB, AB; writing—original draft preparation: KDK; writing—review and editing: KDK, MDL, PS, DT, AB; funding acquisition: KDK, MDL, PS, AB; resources: MDL, PS, AB; supervision: MDL, AB.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Miet De Letter.

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The study was performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

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All participants signed a written informed consent approved by the Ethics Committee of the Ghent University Hospital.

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De Keyser, K., De Letter, M., Santens, P. et al. Neurophysiological investigation of auditory intensity dependence in patients with Parkinson’s disease. J Neural Transm 128, 345–356 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-021-02305-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-021-02305-3

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