Dissociation between neuronal activity in sensorimotor cortex and hand movement revealed as a function of movement rate

It is often assumed that similar behavior is generated by the same brain activity. However, this does not take into account the brain state or recent behavioral history and movement initiation or continuation may not be similarly generated in the brain. To study whether similar movements are generat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of neuroscience 2012-07, Vol.32 (28), p.9736-9744
Main Authors: Hermes, Dora, Siero, Jeroen C W, Aarnoutse, Erik J, Leijten, Frans S S, Petridou, Natalia, Ramsey, Nick F
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Action Potentials - physiology
Adult
Analysis of Variance
Beta Rhythm - physiology
Brain Mapping
Electroencephalography
Female
Hand - innervation
Hand - physiology
Humans
Male
Models, Statistical
Motor Cortex - cytology
Movement - physiology
Neurons - physiology
Reaction Time - physiology
Time Factors
Young Adult
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Summary:It is often assumed that similar behavior is generated by the same brain activity. However, this does not take into account the brain state or recent behavioral history and movement initiation or continuation may not be similarly generated in the brain. To study whether similar movements are generated by the same brain activity, we measured neuronal population activity during repeated movements. Three human subjects performed a motor repetition task in which they moved their hand at four different rates (0.3, 0.5, 1, and 2 Hz). From high-resolution electrocorticography arrays implanted on motor and sensory cortex, high-frequency power (65-95 Hz) was extracted as a measure of neuronal population activity. During the two faster movement rates, high-frequency power was significantly suppressed, whereas movement parameters remained highly similar. This suppression was nonlinear: after the initial movement, neuronal population activity was reduced most strongly, and the data fit a model in which a fast decline rapidly converged to saturation. The amplitude of the beta-band suppression did not change with different rates. However, at the faster rates, beta power did not return to baseline between movements but remained suppressed. We take these findings to indicate that the extended beta suppression at the faster rates, which may suggest a release of inhibition in motor cortex, facilitates movement initiation. These results show that the relationship between behavior and neuronal activity is not consistent: recent movement influences the state of motor cortex and facilitates next movements by reducing the required level of neuronal activity.
ISSN:0270-6474
1529-2401
1529-2401
DOI:10.1523/jneurosci.0357-12.2012