Journal
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 40, Issue 2, Pages 411-423Publisher
SOC NEUROSCIENCE
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1887-19.2019
Keywords
beta-bursts; EEG; motor inhibition; movement; response inhibition; stop-signal task
Categories
Funding
- National Institute of Health [R01 NS102201]
- National Science Foundation [CAREER 1752355]
- Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust (Research Program of Excellence) [17-4885]
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The neurophysiological basis of motor control is of substantial interest to basic researchers and clinicians alike. Motor processes are accompanied by prominent field potential changes in the beta-frequency band (15-29 Hz): in trial-averages, movement initiation is accompanied by beta-band desynchronization over sensorimotor areas, whereas movement cancellation is accompanied by beta -power increases over , (pre)frontal areas. However, averaging misrepresents the true nature of the beta-signal. Unaveraged beta-band activity is characterized by short-lasting, burst-like events, rather than by steady modulations. Therefore, averaging-based quantifications may miss important brain-behavior relationships. To investigate how beta-bursts relate to movement in male and female humans (N = 234), we investigated scalp-recorded beta-band activity during the stop-signal task, which operationalizes both movement initiation and cancellation. Both processes were indexed by systematic spatiotemporal changes in beta-burst rates. Before movement initiation, beta-bursting was prominent at bilateral sensorimotor sites. These burst-rates predicted reaction time (a relationship that was absent in trial-average data), suggesting that sensorimotor beta-bursting signifies an inhibited motor system, which has to be overcome to initiate movements. Indeed, during movement initiation, sensorimotor burst-rates steadily decreased, lateralizing just before movement execution. In contrast, successful movement cancellation was signified by increased phasic beta-bursting over fronto-central sites. Such beta-bursts were followed by short latency increases of bilateral sensorimotor beta-burst rates, suggesting that motor inhibition can be rapidly re-instantiated by frontal areas when movements have to be rapidly cancelled. Together, these findings suggest that beta-bursting is a fundamental signature of the motor system, used by both sensorimotor and frontal areas involved in the trial-by-trial control of behavior.
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