BEHAVIOR OF STRIATUM NEURONS IN MAN

Units of the caudate and putamen were studied during stereotactic oper ations in II patients with movement disorders. Responses of these unit s to different visual stimuli were found for cells of the caudate nucl eus head. These units were activated mainly during the presentation of nutritional stimuli. The responses appeared when a slide was shown pr esenting an image of drink or food or the corresponding word. Frequent ly the same unit was activated by slides of the image and the word pre sented in succession. Responses to similar stimulations were not obser ved in the putamen. Among the parkinsonian patients, only those with t remor had responsive cells while the rigid patients had not. This disc repancy was correlated with the lowering of cortical metabolism demons trated by PET scan in the rigid group of patients. These results are i n agreement with those obtained in monkeys during food presentation. T hey present, moreover, the advantage of showing that these responses c ould be provoked in man by more abstract stimuli, not only the image b ut the name of the object. These observations do not imply a long test ing period; 2 or 3 cells only are studied in each patient. They have t he advantage for the patient of ascertainting the position of the traj ectory in the striate structure, in the same way as thalamic nuclei ar e delineated using other types of stimuli. Moreover, it is of interest interest to have a better knowledge of the behavioral role played by different striatal regions at a time when lesions or stimulations at t his level are proposed to cure abnormal movements in human.