Journal
NEUROPHYSIOLOGIE CLINIQUE-CLINICAL NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
Volume 49, Issue 2, Pages 137-147Publisher
ELSEVIER FRANCE-EDITIONS SCIENTIFIQUES MEDICALES ELSEVIER
DOI: 10.1016/j.neucli.2018.11.002
Keywords
Action preparation; Corticospinal excitability; Double-coil; Impulse control; Motor-evoked potential; Transcranial magnetic stimulation
Categories
Funding
- Fonds Speciaux de Recherche (FSR) of the Universite catholique de Louvain
- Belgian National Funds for Scientific Research [FRS-FNRS: MISF.4512.14]
- Fondation Medicale Reine Elisabeth (FMRE)
- Fund for Research Training in Industry and Agriculture (FRIA)
- FNRS
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Objectives. - Motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) to transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) show a profound suppression when elicited during the instructed-delay of reaction time (RT) tasks. One predominant hypothesis is that this phenomenon, called preparatory inhibition, reflects the operation of processes that suppress motor activity to withhold prepared (but delayed) responses, a form of impulse control. In addition, a startling acoustic stimulus (SAS) - a loud and narrow sound - can trigger the release of prepared responses in RT tasks. We predicted that, if such premature release is clearly forbidden, then anticipating a SAS during delay periods may be associated with increased preparatory inhibition for greater impulse control. Methods. - Subjects performed a behavioural (n=16) and TMS (n=11) experiment. Both used a choice RT task that required subjects to choose a response based on a preparatory cue but to only release it after an imperative signal. SAS and TMS pulses were elicited at the end of the delay period and subjects were asked to do their best to only release their response after the imperative signal, even in the presence of SAS. SAS could be either rare or frequent, in separate blocks. Results. - Consistent with the literature, SAS shortened RTs, especially when they occurred frequently. Moreover, MEPs were suppressed when subjects delayed prepared responses but this preparatory inhibition did not depend on whether SAS were frequent or rare. Discussion. - The stronger RT shortening with frequent rather than rare SAS may be due to increased attention and/or reduced reactive inhibition to SAS, leaving preparatory inhibition unaffected. (C) 2018 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available