Prefrontal Control over Motor Cortex Cycles at Beta Frequency during Movement Inhibition

Picazio, Silvia; Veniero, Domenica; Ponzo, Viviana; Caltagirone, Carlo; Gross, Joachim; Thut, Gregor; Koch, Giacomo

Abstract

A fully adapted behavior requires maximum efficiency to inhibit processes in the motor domain [1]. Although a number of cortical and subcortical brain regions have been implicated, converging evidence suggests that activation of right inferior frontal gyrus (r-IFG) and right presupplementary motor area (r-preSMA) is crucial for successful response inhibition [2, 3]. However, it is still unknown how these prefrontal areas convey the necessary signal to the primary motor cortex (M1), the cortical site where the final motor plan eventually has to be inhibited or executed. On the basis of the widely accepted view that brain oscillations are fundamental for communication between neuronal network elements [4, 5, 6], one would predict that the transmission of these inhibitory signals within the prefrontal-central networks (i.e., r-IFG/M1 and/or r-preSMA/M1) is realized in rapid, periodic bursts coinciding with oscillatory brain activity at a distinct frequency. However, the dynamics of corticocortical effective connectivity has never been directly tested on such timescales. By using double-coil transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and electroencephalography (EEG) [7, 8], we assessed instantaneous prefrontal-to-motor cortex connectivity in a Go/NoGo paradigm as a function of delay from (Go/NoGo) cue onset. In NoGo trials only, the effects of a conditioning prefrontal TMS pulse on motor cortex excitability cycled at beta frequency, coinciding with a frontocentral beta signature in EEG. This establishes, for the first time, a tight link between effective cortical connectivity and related cortical oscillatory activity, leading to the conclusion that endogenous (top-down) inhibitory motor signals are transmitted in beta bursts in large-scale cortical networks for inhibitory motor control.

Citation

Picazio, S., Veniero, D., Ponzo, V., Caltagirone, C., Gross, J., Thut, G., & Koch, G. (2014). Prefrontal Control over Motor Cortex Cycles at Beta Frequency during Movement Inhibition. Current Biology, 24(24), 2940-2945. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.10.043

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 14, 2014
• Online Publication Date: Dec 4, 2014
• Publication Date: Dec 15, 2014
• Deposit Date: Jan 24, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 24, 2020
• Journal: Current Biology
• Print ISSN: 0960-9822
• Publisher: Cell Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 24
• Pages: 2940-2945
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.10.043
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3793172
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982214013529
• Additional Information: This article is maintained by: Elsevier; Article Title: Prefrontal Control over Motor Cortex Cycles at Beta Frequency during Movement Inhibition; Journal Title: Current Biology; CrossRef DOI link to publisher maintained version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2014.10.043; Content Type: article; Copyright: Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.