Response certainty during bimanual movements reduces gamma oscillations in primary motor cortex
Year: 2020
Type: article
Abstract: Even when movement outputs are identical, the neural responses supporting them might differ substantially in order to adapt to changing environmental contexts. Despite the essential nature of this adaptive capacity of the human motor system, little is known regarding the effects of contextual response (un)certainty on the neural dynamics known to serve motor processing. In this study, we use a novel bimanual motor task and neuroimaging with magnetoencephalography (MEG) to examine the effects of contextual response certainty on the dynamic neural responses that are important for proper movement. Significant neural responses were identified in the time-frequency domain at the sensor-level and imaged to the cortex using a spectrally resolved beamformer. Combined frequentist and Bayesian statistical testing between neural motor responses under certain and uncertain conditions indicated evidence for no conditional effect on the peri-movement beta desynchronization (18 - 28 Hz; -100 to 300 ms). In contrast, the movement-related gamma synchronization (MRGS; 66 - 86 Hz; -50 to 150 ms) exhibited a robust effect of motor certainty, such that increased contextual response certainty reduced the amplitude of this response. Interestingly, the peak frequency of the MRGS was unaffected by response certainty. These findings both advance our understanding of the neural processes required to adapt our movements under altered environmental contexts, and support the growing conceptualization of the MRGS as being reflective of ongoing higher cognitive processes during movement execution.
Source: NeuroImage
Language: English
Topic: Motor Control and Adaptation
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,000
Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of General Medical Sciences, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Awards: G2049976992, G2071392226, G2206695498, G2695848431, G284140859, G3117427141, G3626976761, G3674690469, G574326724, G676280546, The Role of Astrocytic signaling in Synaptic Plasticity, G7355328656, Oscillatory markers of cognitive deficits in patients with Alzheimer's disease, G9000011778, G9000013587, G9000034206, G9000042892, G9000044390, G9000057941, G9000069526, G9000110986, G9000122853, G9000277156, G9000317953, G9000346257, G954118505
OpenAlex ID: W3092803267