Beyond the “Bereitschaftspotential”: Action preparation behind cognitive functions

Orthographic character complexity modulates dynamic neural activity in skilled handwriting

Handwriting is an outstanding case of a highly complex and efficient fine motor skill. However, little is known about its neural underpinnings during continuous handwriting production. In the present study, we examined the effects of orthographic character complexity (i.e. the stroke number of a Chinese character) on both neural and behavioural activities during an EEG-based naturalistic fluent sentence-handwriting task from 102 adult Chinese native speakers. For each written character, the interval between finishing the preceding character and its onset (inter-character interval) as well as the amplitudes of the onset-synchronized event-related potential (ERP) in pre- and post-onset time windows was defined as dependent variables. The effects of character complexity and other confounding factors were analysed with linear mixed models. Character complexity increased the inter-character interval and significantly affected ERP amplitudes in both pre- and post-onset time windows. The ERP pattern in the pre-event time window exhibited a dipole-like activation in the left motor cortex, and its amplitude increased with character complexity in line with the documented relationship between the lateralized readiness potential and motor complexity. This study demonstrates the feasibility of studying neurocognitive processes in complex naturalistic motor tasks and extends our knowledge about the dynamic pattern of handwriting-related neural activities.

Integration of cognitive-motor dual-task training in physical sessions of highly-skilled basketball players

We investigated the effects of a cognitive-motor dual-task training (CMDT) integrated into a physical training circuit. Specific tests on sprint, agility, and cognitive processes associated with anticipatory event-related potential (ERP) components and behavioural performance during a cognitive discrimination response task (DRT) were evaluated before and after the intervention. Thirty skilled basketball players were recruited and divided into an experimental group executing the "physical CMDT" and a control group performing standard physical training. The CMDT session was performed by four athletes simultaneously who executed different circuits. One circuit was the CMDT, implemented with interactive devices thus engaging strong motor control, preparedness, and quick decision-making during task performance. Results on physical performance showed that only the experimental group improved in completion time on sprint (5.83%) and agility (3.55%) tests. At the brain level, we found that in the DRT the motor anticipation increased by over 50%, and the response time became 10% faster. Instead, regarding cognitive preparation, both protocols were equally effective and response accuracy parallelly increased in the post-test. In conclusion, the proposed "physical CMDT" integrated into a group session, can improve sprint and agility and the neural correlate of this effect is the increase of motor preparation in the premotor cortex in only five weeks.

Electrophysiological correlation of auditory selective spatial attention in the "cocktail party" situation

The auditory system can selectively attend to the target source in complex environments, the phenomenon known as the "cocktail party" effect. However, the spatiotemporal dynamics of electrophysiological activity associated with auditory selective spatial attention (ASSA) remain largely unexplored. In this study, single-source and multiple-source paradigms were designed to simulate different auditory environments, and microstate analysis was introduced to reveal the electrophysiological correlates of ASSA. Furthermore, cortical source analysis was employed to reveal the neural activity regions of these microstates. The results showed that five microstates could explain the spatiotemporal dynamics of ASSA, ranging from MS1 to MS5. Notably, MS2 and MS3 showed significantly lower partial properties in multiple-source situations than in single-source situations, whereas MS4 had shorter durations and MS5 longer durations in multiple-source situations than in single-source situations. MS1 had insignificant differences between the two situations. Cortical source analysis showed that the activation regions of these microstates initially transferred from the right temporal cortex to the temporal-parietal cortex, and subsequently to the dorsofrontal cortex. Moreover, the neural activity of the single-source situations was greater than that of the multiple-source situations in MS2 and MS3, correlating with the N1 and P2 components, with the greatest differences observed in the superior temporal gyrus and inferior parietal lobule. These findings suggest that these specific microstates and their associated activation regions may serve as promising substrates for decoding ASSA in complex environments.

Preparatory activity of anterior insula predicts conflict errors: integrating convolutional neural networks and neural mass models

Preparatory brain activity is a cornerstone of proactive cognitive control, a top-down process optimizing attention, perception, and inhibition, fostering cognitive flexibility and adaptive attention control in the human brain. In this study, we proposed a neuroimaging-informed convolutional neural network model to predict cognitive control performance from the baseline pre-stimulus preparatory electrophysiological activity of core cognitive control regions. Particularly, combined with perturbation-based occlusion sensitivity analysis, we pinpointed regions with the most predictive preparatory activity for proactive cognitive control. We found that preparatory arrhythmic broadband neural dynamics in the right anterior insula, right precentral gyrus, and the right opercular part of inferior frontal gyrus (posterior ventrolateral prefrontal cortex), are highly predictive of prospective cognitive control performance.  The pre-stimulus preparatory activity in these regions corresponds to readiness for conflict detection, inhibitory control, and overall elaborate attentional processing. We integrated the convolutional neural network with biologically inspired Jansen-Rit neural mass model to investigate neurostimulation effects on cognitive control. High-frequency stimulation (130 Hz) of the left anterior insula provides significant cognitive enhancement, especially in reducing conflict errors, despite the right anterior insula's higher predictive value for prospective cognitive control performance. Thus, effective neurostimulation targets may differ from regions showing biomarker activity. Finally, we validated our theoretical finding by evaluating intrinsic neuromodulation through neurofeedback-guided volitional control in an independent dataset. We found that left anterior insula was intrinsically modulated in real-time by volitional control of emotional valence, but not arousal. Our findings further highlight central role of anterior insula in orchestrating proactive cognitive control processes, positioning it at the top of hierarchy for cognitive control.

Effects of divided attention on movement-related cortical potential in community-dwelling elderly adults: A preliminary study

Dual-tasking is defined as performing two or more tasks concurrently. This study aimed to investigate the effect of divided attention on movement-related cortical potential (MRCP) during dual-task performance in 11 community-dwelling elderly individuals while the load of the secondary task was altered. MRCP was recorded during a single task (ST), simple dual task (S-DT), and complex dual task (C-DT) as no-, low-, and high-load divided attention tasks, respectively. The ST involved self-paced tapping with an extended right index finger. In the S-DT and C-DT, the subjects simultaneously performed the ST and a visual number counting task with different levels of load. The coefficient of variation of movement frequency was significantly more variable in the C-DT than in the ST. The MRCP amplitude from electroencephalography electrode C3, contralateral to the moving hand, was significantly higher in the C-DT than in the ST. Higher attention diversion led to a significant reduction in MRCP amplitude in the participants. These results suggest that attention division in dual-task situations plays an important role in movement preparation and execution. We propose that MRCP can serve as a marker for screening the ability of older individuals to perform dual-tasks.

Bridging Neuroscience and Robotics: Spiking Neural Networks in Action

Robots are becoming increasingly sophisticated in the execution of complex tasks. However, an area that requires development is the ability to act in dynamically changing environments. To advance this, developments have turned towards understanding the human brain and applying this to improve robotics. The present study used electroencephalogram (EEG) data recorded from 54 human participants whilst they performed a two-choice task. A build-up of motor activity starting around 400 ms before response onset, also known as the lateralized readiness potential (LRP), was observed. This indicates that actions are not simply binary processes but rather, response-preparation is gradual and occurs in a temporal window that can interact with the environment. In parallel, a robot arm executing a pick-and-place task was developed. The understanding from the EEG data and the robot arm were integrated into the final system, which included cell assemblies (CAs)-a simulated spiking neural network-to inform the robot to place the object left or right. Results showed that the neural data from the robot simulation were largely consistent with the human data. This neurorobotics study provides an example of how to integrate human brain recordings with simulated neural networks in order to drive a robot.

Top-down reconfiguration of SMA cortical connectivity during action preparation

The Bereitschaftspotential (BP), a scalp potential recorded in humans during action preparation, is characterized by a slow amplitude increase over fronto-central regions as action execution approaches. We recorded TMS evoked-potentials (TEP) stimulating the supplementary motor area (SMA) at different time-points during a Go/No-Go task to assess whether and how cortical excitability and connectivity of this region change as the BP increases. When approaching BP peak, left SMA reactivity resulted greater. Concurrently, its effective connectivity increased with the left occipital areas, while it decreased with the right inferior frontal gyrus, indicating a fast reconfiguration of cortical networks during the preparation of the forthcoming action. Functional connectivity patterns supported these findings, suggesting a critical role of frequency-specific inter-areal interactions in implementing top-down mechanisms in the sensorimotor system prior to action. These findings reveal that BP time-course reflects quantitative and qualitative changes in SMA communication patterns that shape mechanisms involved in motor readiness.

Using occipital ⍺-bursts to modulate behavior in real-time

Pre-stimulus endogenous neural activity can influence the processing of upcoming sensory input and subsequent behavioral reactions. Despite it is known that spontaneous oscillatory activity mostly appears in stochastic bursts, typical approaches based on trial averaging fail to capture this. We aimed at relating spontaneous oscillatory bursts in the alpha band (8-13 Hz) to visual detection behavior, via an electroencephalography-based brain-computer interface (BCI) that allowed for burst-triggered stimulus presentation in real-time. According to alpha theories, we hypothesized that visual targets presented during alpha-bursts should lead to slower responses and higher miss rates, whereas targets presented in the absence of bursts (low alpha activity) should lead to faster responses and higher false alarm rates. Our findings support the role of bursts of alpha oscillations in visual perception and exemplify how real-time BCI systems can be used as a test bench for brain-behavioral theories.

Cued motor processing in autism and typical development: A high-density electrical mapping study of response-locked neural activity in children and adolescents

Motor atypicalities are common in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and are often evident prior to classical ASD symptoms. Despite evidence of differences in neural processing during imitation in autistic individuals, research on the integrity and spatiotemporal dynamics of basic motor processing is surprisingly sparse. To address this need, we analysed electroencephalography (EEG) data recorded from a large sample of autistic (n = 84) and neurotypical (n = 84) children and adolescents while they performed an audiovisual speeded reaction time (RT) task. Analyses focused on RTs and response-locked motor-related electrical brain responses over frontoparietal scalp regions: the late Bereitschaftspotential, the motor potential and the reafferent potential. Evaluation of behavioural task performance indicated greater RT variability and lower hit rates in autistic participants compared to typically developing age-matched neurotypical participants. Overall, the data revealed clear motor-related neural responses in ASD, but with subtle differences relative to typically developing participants evident over fronto-central and bilateral parietal scalp sites prior to response onset. Group differences were further parsed as a function of age (6-9, 9-12 and 12-15 years), sensory cue preceding the response (auditory, visual and bi-sensory audiovisual) and RT quartile. Group differences in motor-related processing were most prominent in the youngest group of children (age 6-9), with attenuated cortical responses observed for young autistic participants. Future investigations assessing the integrity of such motor processes in younger children, where larger differences may be present, are warranted.

Early neural markers for individual difference in mathematical achievement determined from rational number processing

The neural markers for individual differences in mathematical achievement have been studied extensively using magnetic resonance imaging; however, high temporal resolution electrophysiological evidence for individual differences in mathematical achievement require further elucidation. This study evaluated the event-related potential (ERP) when 48 college students with high or low mathematical achievement (HA vs. LA) matched non-symbolic and symbolic rational numbers. Behavioral results indicated that HA students had better performance in the discretized non-symbolic matching, although the two groups showed similar performances in the continuous matching. ERP data revealed that even before non-symbolic stimulus presentation, HA students had greater Bereitschaftspotential (BP) amplitudes over posterior central electrodes. After the presentation of non-symbolic numbers, HA students had larger N1 amplitudes at 160 ms post-stimulus, over left-lateralized parieto-occipital electrodes. After the presentation of symbolic numbers, HA students displayed more profound P1 amplitudes at 100 ms post-stimulus, over left parietal electrodes. Furthermore, larger BP and N1 amplitudes were associated with the shorter reaction times, and larger P1 amplitudes corresponded to lower error rates. The BP effect could indicate preparation processing, and early left-lateralized N1 and P1 effects could reflect the non-symbolic and symbolic number processing along the dorsal neural pathways. These results suggest that the left-lateralized P1 and N1 components elicited by matching non-symbolic and symbolic rational numbers can be considered as neurocognitive markers for individual differences in mathematical achievement.

Electrophysiological Correlates of Different Proactive Controls during Response Competition and Inhibition Tasks

The present study aims to investigate the behavioral outcomes and the antecedent brain dynamics during the preparation of tasks in which the discrimination is either about the choice (choice response task; CRT) or the action (Go/No-go), and in a task not requiring discrimination (simple response task; SRT). Using event-related potentials (ERPs), the mean amplitude over prefrontal, central, and parietal-occipital sites was analyzed in 20 young healthy participants in a time frame before stimulus presentation to assess cognitive, motor, and visual readiness, respectively. Behaviorally, participants were faster and more accurate in the SRT than in the CRT and the Go/No-go. At the electrophysiological level, the proactive cognitive and motor ERP components were larger in the CRT and the Go/No-go than the SRT, but the largest amplitude emerged in the Go/No-go. Further, the amplitude over parieto-occipital leads was enhanced in the SRT. The strongest intensity of the frontal negative expectancy wave over prefrontal leads in the Go/No-go task could be attributed to the largest uncertainty about the target presentation and subsequent motor response selection and execution. The enhanced sensory readiness in the SRT can be related to either an increased visual readiness associated with task requirements or a reduced overlap with proactive processing on the scalp.

Effect of anticipatory multisensory integration on sensory-motor performance

Multisensory integration (MSI) is a phenomenon that occurs in sensory areas after the presentation of multimodal stimuli. Nowadays, little is known about the anticipatory top-down processes taking place in the preparation stage of processing before the stimulus onset. Considering that the top-down modulation of modality-specific inputs might affect the MSI process, this study attempts to understand whether the direct modulation of the MSI process, beyond the well-known sensory effects, may lead to additional changes in multisensory processing also in non-sensory areas (i.e., those related to task preparation and anticipation). To this aim, event-related potentials (ERPs) were analyzed both before and after auditory and visual unisensory and multisensory stimuli during a discriminative response task (Go/No-go type). Results showed that MSI did not affect motor preparation in premotor areas, while cognitive preparation in the prefrontal cortex was increased and correlated with response accuracy. Early post-stimulus ERP activities were also affected by MSI and correlated with response time. Collectively, the present results point to the plasticity accommodating nature of the MSI processes, which are not limited to perception and extend to anticipatory cognitive preparation for task execution. Further, the enhanced cognitive control emerging during MSI is discussed in the context of Bayesian accounts of augmented predictive processing related to increased perceptual uncertainty.

Reduction of anticipatory brain activity in anxious people and regulatory effect of response-related feedback

Elevated anxiety levels degrade task performance, likely because of cognitive function reduction in the frontoparietal brain network. This study aimed to test whether anxiety could impact the frontal cortex anticipatory brain functions and to investigate the possible beneficial effect of response-related feedback on task performance. The electroencephalographic activity was recorded while participants performed two Go/No-go tasks: one with response-related feedback on errors (feedback task) and one task without feedback (standard task). We first tested whether anxiety levels could be associated with pre-stimulus ERP components such as the prefrontal negativity (pN), linked with top-down attentional control, and the Bereitschaftspotential (BP), related to motor preparation. Then, we assessed whether feedback could affect anxious people's brain preparation, reducing the state of uncertainty and improving performance. Results showed that the pN was almost absent and the BP was lower during a standard task in the high anxiety than in the low anxiety group. In the feedback task, these components increased in the high anxious, becoming comparable to the low anxious. Behavioral results showed that false alarms in the high anxiety group were larger than in the low anxiety group during the standard task but became comparable in the feedback task. Similarly, response time in the high anxiety group was slower in the standard task than in the feedback task, and high anxious people were faster in the feedback task than in the standard one. This study contributes to clarifying neural correlates of anxiety, showing brain activity reductions related to action preparation in frontal areas. In addition, response-related feedback tasks could be used to normalize task performance in high anxious people.

Theta Activity Dynamics during Embedded Response Plan Processing in Tourette Syndrome

Gilles de la Tourette syndrome (GTS) is a neuropsychiatric disorder. Because motor signs are the defining feature of GTS, addressing the neurophysiology of motor processes is central to understanding GTS. The integration of voluntary motor processes is subject to so-called "binding problems", i.e., how different aspects of an action are integrated. This was conceptualized in the theory of event coding, in which 'action files' accomplish the integration of motor features. We examined the functional neuroanatomical architecture of EEG theta band activity related to action file processing in GTS patients and healthy controls. Whereas, in keeping with previous data, behavioral performance during action file processing did not differ between GTS and controls, underlying patterns of neural activity were profoundly different. Superior parietal regions (BA7) were predominantly engaged in healthy controls, but superior frontal regions (BA9, BA10) in GTS indicated that the processing of different motor feature codes was central for action file processing in healthy controls, whereas episodic processing was more relevant in GTS. The data suggests a cascade of cognitive branching in fronto-polar areas followed by episodic processing in superior frontal regions in GTS. Patients with GTS accomplish the integration of motor plans via qualitatively different neurophysiological processes.

Time-estimation process could cause the disappearence of readiness potential

Generally, the readiness potential (RP) is considered to be the scalp electroencephalography (EEG) activity preceding movement. In our previous study, we found early RP was absent among approximately half of the subjects during instructed action, but we did not identify the mechanism causing the disappearance of the RP. In this study, we investigated whether the time-estimation process could cause the disappearance of the RP. First, we designed experiments consisting of motor execution (ME), motor execution after time estimation (MEATE), and time estimation (TE) tasks, and we collected and preprocessed the EEG data of 16 subjects. Second, we compared the event related potential (ERP) waveform and scalp topography between ME and MEATE tasks. Then, to explore the influence of time-estimation, we analyzed the difference in ERP between MEATE and TE tasks. Finally, we used source imaging to probe the activation of brain regions during the three tasks, and we calculated the average activation amplitude of eight motor related brain regions. We found that the RP occurred in the ME task but not in the MEATE task. We also found that the waveform of the difference in ERP between the MEATE and TE tasks was similar to that of the ME task. The results of source imaging indicated that, compared to the ME task, the activation amplitude of the supplementary motor area (SMA) decreased significantly for the MEATE task. Our results suggested that the time estimation process could cause the disappearance of the RP. This phenomenon might be caused by the counteraction of neural electrical activity related to time estimation and motor preparation in the SMA.

Where Actions Meet Outcomes: Medial Prefrontal Cortex, Central Thalamus, and the Basal Ganglia

Medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) interacts with distributed networks that give rise to goal-directed behavior through afferent and efferent connections with multiple thalamic nuclei and recurrent basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuits. Recent studies have revealed individual roles for different thalamic nuclei: mediodorsal (MD) regulation of signaling properties in mPFC neurons, intralaminar control of cortico-basal ganglia networks, ventral medial facilitation of integrative motor function, and hippocampal functions supported by ventral midline and anterior nuclei. Large scale mapping studies have identified functionally distinct cortico-basal ganglia-thalamocortical subnetworks that provide a structural basis for understanding information processing and functional heterogeneity within the basal ganglia. Behavioral analyses comparing functional deficits produced by lesions or inactivation of specific thalamic nuclei or subregions of mPFC or the basal ganglia have elucidated the interdependent roles of these areas in adaptive goal-directed behavior. Electrophysiological recordings of mPFC neurons in rats performing delayed non-matching-to position (DNMTP) and other complex decision making tasks have revealed populations of neurons with activity related to actions and outcomes that underlie these behaviors. These include responses related to motor preparation, instrumental actions, movement, anticipation and delivery of action outcomes, memory delay, and spatial context. Comparison of results for mPFC, MD, and ventral pallidum (VP) suggest critical roles for mPFC in prospective processes that precede actions, MD for reinforcing task-relevant responses in mPFC, and VP for providing feedback about action outcomes. Synthesis of electrophysiological and behavioral results indicates that different networks connecting mPFC with thalamus and the basal ganglia are organized to support distinct functions that allow organisms to act efficiently to obtain intended outcomes.

Assessing residual motor function in patients with disorders of consciousness by brain network properties of task-state EEG

Recent achievements in evaluating the residual consciousness of patients with disorders of consciousness (DOCs) have demonstrated that spontaneous or evoked electroencephalography (EEG) could be used to improve consciousness state diagnostic classification. Recent studies showed that the EEG signal of the task-state could better characterize the conscious state and cognitive ability of the brain, but it has rarely been used in consciousness assessment. A cue-guide motor task experiment was designed, and task-state EEG were collected from 18 patients with unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (UWS), 29 patients in a minimally conscious state (MCS), and 19 healthy controls. To obtain the markers of residual motor function in patients with DOC, the event-related potential (ERP), scalp topography, and time-frequency maps were analyzed. Then the coherence (COH) and debiased weighted phase lag index (dwPLI) networks in the delta, theta, alpha, beta, and gamma bands were constructed, and the correlations of network properties and JFK Coma Recovery Scale-Revised (CRS-R) motor function scores were calculated. The results showed that there was an obvious readiness potential (RP) at the Cz position during the motor preparation process in the MCS group, but no RP was observed in the UWS group. Moreover, the node degree properties of the COH network in the theta and alpha bands and the global efficiency properties of the dwPLI network in the theta band were significantly greater in the MCS group compared to the UWS group. The above network properties and CRS-R motor function scores showed a strong linear correlation. These findings demonstrated that the brain network properties of task-state EEG could be markers of residual motor function of DOC patients.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11571-021-09741-7.

Modulation of neurocognitive functions associated with action preparation and early stimulus processing by response-generated feedback

Receiving feedback on action correctness is a relevant factor in learning, but only a few recent studies have investigated the neural bases involved in feedback processing and its consequences on performance. Several event-related potentials (ERP) studies investigated the feedback-related negativity, which is an ERP occurring after the presentation of a feedback stimulus. In contrast, the present study investigates the effect of providing feedback on brain activities before and after the presentation of an imperative stimulus with the aim to show how this could have an impact on cognitive functions related to anticipatory and post-stimulus task processing. Participants performed a standard visuomotor task and a modified version of the same task in which feedback sounds were emitted when participants committed performance errors. Overall, results showed that in the feedback task subjects have better cognitive control than in the standard task. All behavioral measures were improved in the feedback task. At the brain level, all the studied components were modulated by the presence of the feedback cue. Results pointed to a possible increase of anticipatory activity in the prefrontal cortex, a reduction of perceptual awareness in areas previously associated with the anterior insular cortex, and an increase of activity associated with selective attention in sensory cortices.

The field of expertise modulates the time course of neural processes associated with inhibitory control in a sport decision-making task

Inhibitory control (IC), the ability to suppress inappropriate actions, can be improved by regularly facing complex and dynamic situations requiring flexible behaviors, such as in the context of intensive sport practice. However, researchers have not clearly determined whether and how this improvement in IC transfers to ecological and nonecological computer-based tasks. We explored the spatiotemporal dynamics of changes in the brain activity of three groups of athletes performing sport-nonspecific and sport-specific Go/NoGo tasks with video footages of table tennis situations to address this question. We compared table tennis players (n = 20), basketball players (n = 20) and endurance athletes (n = 17) to identify how years of practicing a sport in an unpredictable versus predictable environment shape the IC brain networks and increase the transfer effects to untrained tasks. Overall, the table tennis group responded faster than the two other groups in both Go/NoGo tasks. The electrical neuroimaging analyses performed in the sport-specific Go/NoGo task revealed that this faster response time was supported by an early engagement of brain structures related to decision-making processes in a time window where inhibition processes typically occur. Our collective findings have relevant applied perspectives, as they highlight the importance of designing more ecological domain-related tasks to effectively capture the complex decision-making processes acquired in real-life situations. Finally, the limited effects from sport practice to laboratory-based tasks found in this study question the utility of cognitive training intervention, whose effects would remain specific to the practice environment.

Consistency of inclusion criteria for functional movement disorder clinical research studies: A systematic review

BACKGROUND: Functional movement disorders (FMDs) are a common cause of disability. With an increasing research interest in FMD, including the emergence of intervention trials, it is crucial that research methodology be examined, and standardized protocols be developed. OBJECTIVE: To characterize the current inclusion criteria used to select patients for FMD research studies and review the consistency and appropriateness of these criteria. METHODS: We identified studies of potential biomarkers for FMD that were published over the last two decades and performed a qualitative analysis on the finally included studies. RESULTS: We identified 79 articles and found inconsistent inclusion criteria. The Fahn-Williams and DSM-IV criteria were the most commonly applied, but neither accounted for the majority (Fahn-Williams 46%, DSM-IV 32% of the total). The selection of the inclusion criteria depended in part on the phenotype of FMD under investigation. We also identified inclusion methodologies that were not appropriate, such as the inclusion of low-certainty diagnoses and diagnosing by excluding specific biomarkers rather than including patients based on clinical characteristics that commonly are thought to suggest FMD. CONCLUSIONS: Significant variability exists with the inclusion criteria for FMD research studies. This variability could limit reproducibility and the appropriate aggregation of data for meta-analysis. Advancing FMD rehabilitation research will need standardized inclusion criteria. We make some suggestions.

Unconscious Influences on "Free Will" Movement Initiation: Slow-wave Brain Stimulation and the Readiness Potential

A central objective in the study of volition has been to identify how changes in neural activity relate to voluntary-"free will"-movement. The readiness potential (RP) is observed in the EEG as a slow-building signal that precedes action onset. Many consider the RP as a marker of an underlying preparatory process for initiating voluntary movement. However, the RP may emerge from ongoing slow-wave brain oscillations that influence the timing of movement initiation in a phase-dependent manner. Transcranial alternating current stimulation (tACS) enables brain oscillations to be entrained at the frequency of stimulation. We delivered tACS at a slow-wave frequency over frontocentral motor areas while participants (n = 30) performed a simple, self-paced button press task. During the active tACS condition, participants showed a tendency to initiate actions in the phase of the tACS cycle that corresponded to increased negative potentials across the frontocentral motor region. Comparisons of premovement EEG activity observed over frontocentral and central scalp electrodes showed earlier onset and increased amplitude of RPs from active stimulation compared with sham stimulation. This suggests that movement-related activity in the brain can be modulated by the delivery of weak, nonconsciously perceptible alternating currents over frontocentral motor regions. We present novel findings that support existing theories, which suggest the timing of voluntary movement is influenced by the phase of slow-changing oscillating brain states.

Effects of a Cognitive-Motor Training on Anticipatory Brain Functions and Sport Performance in Semi-Elite Basketball Players

The aim of this research was to test the possible effects of cognitive–motor training (CMT) on athletes’ sport performance and cognitive functions. Namely, specific athletic tests, brain processes associated with anticipatory event-related potential (ERP) components and behavioral performance during a cognitive discrimination response task were evaluated pre- and post-training. Twenty-four young semi-professional basketball players were recruited for the study and randomly divided into an experimental (Exp) group executing the CMT training and a control (Con) group performing standard motor training. The CMT training protocol included exercises in which participants performed cognitive tasks during dribbling exercises using interactive devices which emitted visual and auditory stimuli, in which athletes’ responses were recorded. Results showed that following training, only the Exp group improved in all sport-specific tests (17%) and more than the Con group (88% vs. 60%) in response accuracy during the cognitive test. At brain level, post-training anticipatory cognitive processes associated with proactive inhibition and top-down attention in the prefrontal cortex were earlier and heightened in the Exp group. Our findings confirm previous studies on clear improved efficacy of CMT training protocols on sport performance and cognition compared to training based on motor exercises only, but extend the literature in showing that these effects might be explained by enhanced anticipatory brain processing in the prefrontal cortex. The present study also suggests that in order to achieve specific athletic goals, the brain adapts cognitive functions by means of neuroplasticity processes.

Extraction of the GVS electrical artifact from EEG recordings of the motor related cortical potential

BACKGROUND

Galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS) involves the administration of low-amplitude trans-mastoidal current which induces a dense electrical field across the scalp that is difficult to remove from the EEG record. In two proof-of-concept experiments, we designed a paradigm to evaluate functional limb movement, and tested a method of blind source separation to remove the scalp artifact induced by low-amplitude, alternating current GVS to allow measurement of the motor-related cortical response (MRCP) during voluntary movement.

NEW METHOD

Off-line Extended Infomax Independent Component Analysis (ICA) was applied to the concatenated dataset to identify and remove core characteristics of the artifact induced by a trans-mastoidal current (Experiment 1: 0.01Hz, 0.2-3mA; Experiment 2: 0.01Hz, 0.3-0.4mA) during finger (Experiments 1 and 2) and foot tapping (Experiment 2).

RESULTS

In Experiment 1, a GVS-related independent component was identified and successfully removed without compromising measurement of the MRCP. This success was replicated in Experiment 2 which included both finger and foot tapping, and a higher GVS amplitude, which resulted in the identification of additional GVS-related artifacts.

COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS

Existing methods of artifact rejection typically use an offline bandpass filter that overlaps with the frequency range of the MRCP. Even when similar ICA-based approaches have been employed, they have been applied during rest rather than active movement, have not been described in sufficient detail to enable replication, and require significant expertise and bespoke software to implement.

CONCLUSION

The ICA-based approach described here provides a relatively simple and accessible means by which MRCPs can be measured during alternating current GVS. This provides opportunity to identify new biomarkers associated with the therapeutic effects of GVS in people with Parkinson's disease and other disorders of voluntary movement.

Robust anticipation of continuous steering actions from electroencephalographic data during simulated driving

Driving a car requires high cognitive demands, from sustained attention to perception and action planning. Recent research investigated the neural processes reflecting the planning of driving actions, aiming to better understand the factors leading to driving errors and to devise methodologies to anticipate and prevent such errors by monitoring the driver’s cognitive state and intention. While such anticipation was shown for discrete driving actions, such as emergency braking, there is no evidence for robust neural signatures of continuous action planning. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating continuous steering actions during a driving task in a car simulator with multimodal recordings of behavioural and electroencephalography (EEG) signals. System identification is used to assess whether robust neurophysiological signatures emerge before steering actions. Linear decoding models are then used to determine whether such cortical signals can predict continuous steering actions with progressively longer anticipation. Results point to significant EEG signatures of continuous action planning. Such neural signals show consistent dynamics across participants for anticipations up to 1 s, while individual-subject neural activity could reliably decode steering actions and predict future actions for anticipations up to 1.8 s. Finally, we use canonical correlation analysis to attempt disentangling brain and non-brain contributors to the EEG-based decoding. Our results suggest that low-frequency cortical dynamics are involved in the planning of steering actions and that EEG is sensitive to that neural activity. As a result, we propose a framework to investigate anticipatory neural activity in realistic continuous motor tasks.

Transcranial direct current stimulation of the prefrontal cortex reduces cigarette craving in not motivated to quit smokers: A randomized, sham-controlled study

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) over the dorsolaterateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) has been indicated as a promising treatment for several addictions, while its contribution for smoking cessation was less investigated. In particular, the role of motivation to quit and the nicotine dependence level as possible mediators of tDCS effect needs to be deepened. In the present study, we recruited twenty smokers who did not look for a treatment to quit: most of them presented a mild level of nicotine addiction, and they were randomly assigned to active or sham group for receiving bilateral tDCS over the DLPFC. tDCS was provided for five consecutive days with anode over the right hemisphere: in the first and the last day the craving level was evaluated through a specific evoking procedure, and the daily cigarette consumption was recorded. Results showed that the active tDCS decreased by about 50% the cigarette craving, while the number of cigarettes smoked remained unchanged and no differences emerged in the sham group. The present study indicates the tDCS of the DLPFC as a possible treatment for smoking addiction because of its effectiveness in reducing craving. Further, as we recruited smokers with no motivation to quit, and the nicotine dependence level was a moderator of the tDCS effect, we suggest that its efficacy might be even greater in the severe smokers looking for a treatment.

Efficacy of Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Combined With Visual Scanning Treatment on Cognitive-Behavioral Symptoms of Unilateral Spatial Neglect in Patients With Traumatic Brain Injury: Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial

Left hemispatial neglect (LHSN) is a frequent and disabling condition affecting patients who suffered from traumatic brain injury (TBI). LHSN is a neuropsychological syndrome characterized clinically by difficulties in attending, responding, and consciously representing the right side of space. Despite its frequency, scientific evidence on effective treatments for this condition in TBI patients is still low. According to existing literature, we hypothesize that in TBI, LHSN is caused by an imbalance in inter-hemispheric activity due to hyperactivity of the left hemisphere, as observed in LHSN after right strokes. Thus, by inhibiting this left hyperactivity, repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) would have a rebalancing effect, reducing LHSN symptoms in TBI patients. We plan to test this hypothesis within a single-blind, randomized SHAM controlled trial in which TBI patients will receive inhibitory i-rTMS followed by cognitive treatment for 15 days. Neurophysiological and clinical measures will be collected before, afterward, and in the follow-up. This study will give the first empirical evidence about the efficacy of a novel approach to treating LHSN in TBI patients.

Clinical Trial Registration:https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04573413?cond=Neglect%2C+Hemispatial&cntry=IT&city=Bologna&draw=2&rank=2, identifier: NCT04573413.

Joint control of visually guided actions involves concordant increases in behavioural and neural coupling

It is often necessary for individuals to coordinate their actions with others. In the real world, joint actions rely on the direct observation of co-actors and rhythmic cues. But how are joint actions coordinated when such cues are unavailable? To address this question, we recorded brain activity while pairs of participants guided a cursor to a target either individually (solo control) or together with a partner (joint control) from whom they were physically and visibly separated. Behavioural patterns revealed that joint action involved real-time coordination between co-actors and improved accuracy for the lower performing co-actor. Concurrent neural recordings and eye tracking revealed that joint control affected cognitive processing across multiple stages. Joint control involved increases in both behavioural and neural coupling - both quantified as interpersonal correlations - peaking at action completion. Correspondingly, a neural offset response acted as a mechanism for and marker of interpersonal neural coupling, underpinning successful joint actions.

Neural Basis of Anticipatory Multisensory Integration

The brain is able to gather different sensory information to enhance salient event perception, thus yielding a unified perceptual experience of multisensory events. Multisensory integration has been widely studied, and the literature supports the hypothesis that it can occur across various stages of stimulus processing, including both bottom-up and top-down control. However, evidence on anticipatory multisensory integration occurring in the fore period preceding the presentation of the expected stimulus in passive tasks, is missing. By means of event-related potentials (ERPs), it has been recently proposed that visual and auditory unimodal stimulations are preceded by sensory-specific readiness activities. Accordingly, in the present study, we tested the occurrence of multisensory integration in the endogenous anticipatory phase of sensory processing, combining visual and auditory stimuli during unimodal and multimodal passive ERP paradigms. Results showed that the modality-specific pre-stimulus ERP components (i.e., the auditory positivity -aP- and the visual negativity -vN-) started earlier and were larger in the multimodal stimulation compared with the sum of the ERPs elicited by the unimodal stimulations. The same amplitude effect was also present for the early auditory N1 and visual P1 components. This anticipatory multisensory effect seems to influence stimulus processing, boosting the magnitude of early stimulus processing. This paves the way for new perspectives on the neural basis of multisensory integration.

Detection of movement related cortical potentials in freehand drawing on digital tablet

BACKGROUND

Cortical activity connected to movements has been investigated long since, and is related, among other factors, to saliency of the gesture. However, experiments performed on movements in actual situations are rare, as most of them have been performed in laboratory simulations. Besides, no research seems to have been carried out on subjects during freehand drawing.

NEW METHOD

We propose a method based upon a commercial drawing tablet and wireless pen, that has been synchronized with EEG recording by means of a piezoelectric sensor attached to the pen tip. Complete freedom of movement is allowed, and any kind of drawing style can be performed using currently available graphics software.

RESULTS

EEG recordings during meaningful drawing were compared with recordings where the pen was tapped and shifted on tablet without specific purpose. With reference to T0 event (pen touching tablet), several components could be observed in pre- and post-T0 epochs. The most important appeared to be a triphasic wave (N-150, P-40 and N + 30), where P-40 showed a striking difference between drawing and tap session, being much larger in the former.

COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS

Onset of muscle EMG is usually employed for synchronization. In complex and free gestures too many muscles are active to allow reliable identification of such reference. Our method provides a precise trigger event easily detected without movement constraints.

CONCLUSIONS

With this method it will be possible to record EEG activity related to creative aspects of drawing and explore other skilled movements.

Event-related brain potential indexes provide evidence for some decline in healthy people with subjective memory complaints during target evaluation and response inhibition processing

In the preclinical stage of the Alzheimer's disease (AD) continuum, subjects report subjective memory complaints (SMCs), although with the absence of any objective decline, and have a higher risk of progressing to dementia than the general population. Early identification of this stage therefore constitutes a major focus of current AD research, to enable early intervention. In this study, healthy adult participants with high and low SMCs (HSMCs and LSMCs) performed a Go/NoGo task during electroencephalogram (EEG) recording. Relative to LSMC participants, HSMC participants performed the task slower (longer reaction times) and showed changes in the event-related potential (ERP) components associated with response preparation (lower readiness potential -RP- amplitude in the Go condition), and also related to response inhibition processes (lower N2-P3 amplitude in the NoGo condition). In addition, HSMC participants showed lower Go-N2 and NoGo-N2 peak-to-baseline amplitudes, however these results seem to be influenced by a negative tendency overlapping stimulus-related waveforms. The declines observed in this study are mostly consistent with those observed in aMCI participants, supporting the notion of the AD continuum regarding SMC state.

Central Thalamic-Medial Prefrontal Control of Adaptive Responding in the Rat: Many Players in the Chamber

The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) has robust afferent and efferent connections with multiple nuclei clustered in the central thalamus. These nuclei are elements in large-scale networks linking mPFC with the hippocampus, basal ganglia, amygdala, other cortical areas, and visceral and arousal systems in the brainstem that give rise to adaptive goal-directed behavior. Lesions of the mediodorsal nucleus (MD), the main source of thalamic input to middle layers of PFC, have limited effects on delayed conditional discriminations, like DMTP and DNMTP, that depend on mPFC. Recent evidence suggests that MD sustains and amplifies neuronal responses in mPFC that represent salient task-related information and is important for detecting and encoding contingencies between actions and their consequences. Lesions of rostral intralaminar (rIL) and ventromedial (VM) nuclei produce delay-independent impairments of egocentric DMTP and DNMTP that resemble effects of mPFC lesions on response speed and accuracy: results consistent with projections of rIL to striatum and VM to motor cortices. The ventral midline and anterior thalamic nuclei affect allocentric spatial cognition and memory consistent with their connections to mPFC and hippocampus. The dorsal midline nuclei spare DMTP and DNMTP. They have been implicated in behavioral-state control and response to salient stimuli in associative learning. mPFC functions are served during DNMTP by discrete populations of neurons with responses related to motor preparation, movements, lever press responses, reinforcement anticipation, reinforcement delivery, and memory delay. Population analyses show that different responses are timed so that they effectively tile the temporal interval from when DNMTP trials are initiated until the end. Event-related responses of MD neurons during DNMTP are predominantly related to movement and reinforcement, information important for DNMTP choice. These responses closely mirror the activity of mPFC neurons with similar responses. Pharmacological inactivation of MD and adjacent rIL affects the expression of diverse action- and outcome-related responses of mPFC neurons. Lesions of MD before training are associated with a shift away from movement-related responses in mPFC important for DNMTP choice. These results suggest that MD has short-term effects on the expression of event-related activity in mPFC and long-term effects that tune mPFC neurons to respond to task-specific information.

Event-Related Potentials During Decision-Making in a Mixed-Strategy Game

The decisions we make are sometimes influenced by interactions with other agents. Previous studies have suggested that the prefrontal cortex plays an important role in decision-making and that the dopamine system underlies processes of motivation, motor preparation, and reinforcement learning. However, the physiological mechanisms underlying how the prefrontal cortex and the dopaminergic system are involved in decision-making remain largely unclear. The present study aimed to determine how decision strategies influence event-related potentials (ERPs). We also tested the effect of levodopa, a dopamine precursor, on decision-making and ERPs in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled investigation. The subjects performed a matching-pennies task against an opposing virtual computer player by choosing between right and left targets while their ERPs were recorded. According to the rules of the matching-pennies task, the subject won the trial when they chose the same side as the opponent, and lost otherwise. We set three different task rules: (1) with the alternation (ALT) rule, the computer opponent made alternating choices of right and left in sequential trials; (2) with the random (RAND) rule, the opponent randomly chose between right and left; and (3) with the GAME rule, the opponent analyzed the subject's past choices to predict the subject's next choice, and then chose the opposite side. A sustained medial ERP became more negative toward the time of the subject's target choice. A biphasic potential appeared when the opponent's choice was revealed after the subject's response. The ERPs around the subject's choice were greater in RAND and GAME than in ALT, and the negative peak was enhanced by levodopa. In addition to these medial ERPs, we observed lateral frontal ERPs tuned to the choice direction. The signals emerged around the choice period selectively in RAND and GAME when levodopa was administered. These results suggest that decision processes are modulated by the dopamine system when a complex and strategic decision is required, which may reflect decision updating with dopaminergic prediction error signals.

Implicit anticipation of probabilistic regularities: Larger CNV emerges for unpredictable events

Anticipation of upcoming events plays a crucial role in automatic behaviors. It is, however, still unclear whether the event-related brain potential (ERP) markers of anticipation could track the implicit acquisition of probabilistic regularities that can be considered as building blocks of automatic behaviors. Therefore, in a four-choice reaction time (RT) task performed by young adults (N = 36), the contingent negative variation (CNV) as an ERP marker of anticipation was measured from the onset of a cue stimulus until the presentation of a target stimulus. Due to the probability structure of the task, target stimuli were either predictable or unpredictable, but this was unknown to participants. The cue did not contain predictive information on the upcoming target. Results showed that the CNV amplitude during response preparation was larger before the unpredictable than before the predictable target stimuli. In addition, although RTs increased, the P3 amplitude decreased for the unpredictable as compared with the predictable target stimuli, possibly due to the stronger response preparation that preceded stimulus presentation. These results suggest that enhanced attentional resources are allocated to the implicit anticipation and processing of unpredictable events. This might originate from the formation of internal models on the probabilistic regularities of the stimulus stream, which primarily facilitates the processing of predictable events. Overall, we provide ERP evidence that supports the role of implicit anticipation and predictive processes in the acquisition of probabilistic regularities.

Neurophysiology of embedded response plans: age effects in action execution but not in feature integration from preadolescence to adulthood

Performing a goal-directed movement consists of a chain of complex preparatory mechanisms. Such planning especially requires integration (or binding) of various action features, a process that has been conceptualized in the "theory of event coding." Theoretical considerations and empirical research suggest that these processes are subject to developmental effects from adolescence to adulthood. The aim of the present study was to investigate age-related modulations in action feature binding processes and to shed light on underlying neurophysiological development from preadolescence to early adulthood. We examined a group of healthy participants (n = 61) between 10 and 30 yr of age, who performed a task that requires a series of bimanual response selections in an embedded paradigm. For an in-depth analysis of the underlying neural correlates, we applied EEG signal decomposition together with source localization analyses. Behavioral results across the whole group did not show binding effects in reaction times but in intraindividual response variability. From age 10 to 30 yr, there was a decrease in reaction times and reaction time variability but no age-related effect in action file binding. The latter were corroborated by Bayesian data analyses. On the brain level, the developmental effects on response selection were associated with activation modulations in the superior parietal cortex (BA7). The results show that mechanisms of action execution and speed, but not those of action feature binding, are subject to age-related changes between the age of 10 and 30 yr.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Different aspects of an action need to be integrated to allow smooth unfolding of behavior. We examine developmental effects in these processes and show that mechanisms of action execution and speed, but not those of action feature binding, are subject to age-related changes between the age of 10 and 30 yr.

Anodal tDCS over the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex reduces Stroop errors. A comparison of different tasks and designs

In the present work, we evaluated the possibility to induce changes in the inhibitory control through non-invasive excitatory stimulation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC). To this aim, different montages of the transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) were adopted in three separate experiments, wherein different cognitive tasks were performed before and after the stimulation. In the first experiment, participants performed a visual Go/no-go task, and a bilateral anodic or sham stimulation was provided over the scalp area corresponding to the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). In the second experiment, the IFG was stimulated unilaterally over the right hemisphere, and participants performed a Stroop task combined with a concurrent n-back task, which was aimed at overloading PFC activity. Since no behavioral effects of tDCS were observed in both experiments, we conducted a third experiment with different montage and paradigm. Stimulation was provided bilaterally over the dorsolateral PFC (DLPFC) in the context of a classic Stroop task: results indicated that anodal stimulation favored a reduction of errors. Present findings suggest that the bihemispheric stimulation of the DLPFC might be effective to increase inhibition in healthy subjects, and that this effect might be mediated by the implementation of sustained attention, as predicted by the attentional account of the inhibitory control.

Electroencephalographic correlates of temporal Bayesian belief updating and surprise

The brain predicts the timing of forthcoming events to optimize responses to them. Temporal predictions have been formalized in terms of the hazard function, which integrates prior beliefs on the likely timing of stimulus occurrence with information conveyed by the passage of time. However, how the human brain updates prior temporal beliefs is still elusive. Here we investigated electroencephalographic (EEG) signatures associated with Bayes-optimal updating of temporal beliefs. Given that updating usually occurs in response to surprising events, we sought to disentangle EEG correlates of updating from those associated with surprise. Twenty-six participants performed a temporal foreperiod task, which comprised a subset of surprising events not eliciting updating. EEG data were analyzed through a regression-based massive approach in the electrode and source space. Distinct late positive, centro-parietally distributed, event-related potentials (ERPs) were associated with surprise and belief updating in the electrode space. While surprise modulated the commonly observed P3b, updating was associated with a later and more sustained P3b-like waveform deflection. Results from source analyses revealed that neural encoding of surprise comprises neural activity in the cingulo-opercular network (CON) and parietal regions. These data provide evidence that temporal predictions are computed in a Bayesian manner, and that this is reflected in P3 modulations, akin to other cognitive domains. Overall, our study revealed that analyzing P3 modulations provides an important window into the Bayesian brain. Data and scripts are shared on OSF: https://osf.io/ckqa5/.

Now You See One Letter, Now You See Meaningless Symbols: Perceptual and Semantic Hypnotic Suggestions Reduce Stroop Errors Through Different Neurocognitive Mechanisms

Compelling literature has suggested the possibility of adopting hypnotic suggestions to override the Stroop interference effect. However, most of these studies mainly reported behavioral data and were conducted on highly hypnotizable individuals. Thus, the question of the neural locus of the effects and their generalizability remains open. In the present study, we used the Stroop task in a within-subject design to test the neurocognitive effects of two hypnotic suggestions: the perceptual request to focus only on the central letter of the words and the semantic request to observe meaningless symbols. Behavioral results indicated that the two types of suggestions did not alter response time (RT), but both favored more accurate performance compared to the control condition. Both types of suggestions increased sensory awareness and reduced discriminative visual attention, but the perceptual request selectively engaged more executive control of the prefrontal cortex (PFC), and the semantic request selectively suppressed the temporal cortex activity devoted to graphemic analysis of the words. The present findings demonstrated that the perceptual and the semantic hypnotic suggestions reduced Stroop errors through common and specific top-down modulations of different neurocognitive processes but left the semantic activation unaltered. Finally, as we also recruited participants with a medium level of hypnotizability, the present data might be considered potentially representative of the majority of the population.

Sustained visuospatial attention enhances lateralized anticipatory ERP activity in sensory areas

The existence of neural correlates of spatial attention is not limited to the reactive stage of stimulus processing: neural activities subtending spatial attention are deployed well ahead of stimulus onset. ERP evidence supporting this proactive (top-down) attentional control is based on trial-by-trial S1-S2 paradigms, where the onset of a directional cue (S1) indicates on which side attention must be directed to respond to an upcoming target stimulus (S2). Crucially, S1 onset trigger both attention and motor preparation, therefore, these paradigms are not ideal to demonstrate the effect of attention at preparatory stage of processing. To isolate top-down anticipatory attention, the present study used a sustained attention paradigm based on a steady cue that indicates the attended side constantly throughout an entire block of trials, without any onset of an attentional cue. The main result consists in the description of the attention effect on the visual negativity (vN) component, a growing neural activity starting before stimulus presentation in extrastriate visual areas. The vN was consistently lateralized in the hemisphere contralateral to the attended side, regardless of the hand to be used. At the opposite, the lateralized motor activity emerged long after, confirming that the hand-selection process followed the spatial attention orientation process. The present study confirms the anticipatory nature of the vN component and corroborate its role in terms of preparatory visuospatial attention.

Effects of a dual task and different levels of divided attention on motor-related cortical potential

[Purpose] The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of divided attention on motor-related cortical potential (MRCP) during dual task performance while the difficulty of the secondary task was altered. [Participants and Methods] Twenty-two right-handed healthy volunteers participated in the study. MRCPs were recorded during two tasks, a single task (ST) and a simple (S-DT) or complex dual task (C-DT). The ST involved a self-paced tapping task in which the participants extended their right index finger. In the dual task, the participants performed the ST and a visual number counting task simultaneously. [Results] The amplitude and integral value of MRCP from electroencephalography electrode C3 was significantly higher in the S-DT than in the ST, whereas they were similar between the C-DT and the ST. Medium-load divided attention (i.e., S-DT) led to significantly more changes in the MRCP magnitude than did low-load divided attention (i.e., ST). However, the MRCP of high-load divided attention (i.e., C-DT) was similar to that of low-load divided attention. [Conclusion] These results suggest that MRCP reflects the function of or network between the supplementary motor area and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and may serve as a marker for screening the capacity of individuals to perform dual tasks.

Brain signatures predict communicative function of speech production in interaction

People normally know what they want to communicate before they start speaking. However, brain indicators of communication are typically observed only after speech act onset, and it is unclear when any anticipatory brain activity prior to speaking might first emerge, along with the communicative intentions it possibly reflects. Here, we investigated brain activity prior to the production of different speech act types, request and naming actions performed by uttering single words embedded into language games with a partner, similar to natural communication. Starting ca. 600 msec before speech onset, an event-related potential maximal at fronto-central electrodes, which resembled the Readiness Potential, was larger when preparing requests compared to naming actions. Analysis of the cortical sources of this anticipatory brain potential suggests a relatively stronger involvement of fronto-central motor regions for requests, which may reflect the speaker's expectation of the partner actions typically following requests, e.g., the handing over of a requested object. Our results indicate that different neuronal circuits underlying the processing of different speech act types activate already before speaking. Results are discussed in light of previous work addressing the neural basis of speech act understanding and predictive brain indexes of language comprehension.

Modulation of anticipatory visuospatial attention in sustained and transient tasks

The anticipation of upcoming events is a key-feature of cognition. Previous investigations on anticipatory visuospatial attention mainly adopted transient and-more rarely-sustained tasks, whose main difference consists in the presence of transient or sustained cue stimuli and different involvement of top-down or bottom-up forms of attention. In particular, while top-down control has been suggested to drive sustained attention, it is not clear whether both endogenous and exogenous controls are recruited in transient attention task, or whether the cue-evoked attention may be interpreted as a mainly bottom-up guided process. To solve this issue, the present study focused on the preparatory brain activity of participants performing a sustained and a transient attention task. To this aim, the focus was on pre-stimulus event-related potential (ERP) components, i.e., the prefrontal negativity (pN) and the visual negativity (vN), associated with cognitive and sensorial preparation, emerging from prefrontal and visual areas, respectively. Results indicated that the pN was specific for the sustained task, while the vN emerged for both tasks, although smaller in the transient task, with a hemispheric lateralization contralateral to the attended hemifield. The present findings support the interpretation of the vN as a modality-specific index of attentional preparation, and suggest the presence of cognitive endogenous control in sustained tasks only, as revealed by the presence of a prefrontal activity that was interpreted as the locus of the top-down attentional modulation during the stimulus expectancy stage.

Effect of task complexity on motor and cognitive preparatory brain activities

In the present study, we investigated scalp-recorded activities of motor and cognitive preparation preceding stimulus presentation in relatively simple and complex visual motor discriminative response tasks (DRTs). Targets and non-targets were presented (with equal probability) in both tasks, and the complexity of the task depended on the discrimination and categorization processing load, which was based on the number of stimuli used (two stimuli in the simple- and four in the complex-DRT, respectively). We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) in 16 participants in simple-DRT and 16 participants in complex-DRT. At the behavioral level, the performance was faster and more accurate in simple-DRT. Two pre-stimulus ERPs were considered: the central Bereitschaftspotential (BP) and the prefrontal negativity (pN). Both components showed earlier onset and larger amplitude in the complex-DRT. Overall, the simple-DRT required less motor and cognitive preparation in premotor and prefrontal areas compared to the complex-DRT. Present findings also suggest that the pN component was not reported in previous studies, likely because most ERP literature focusing on pre-stimulus ERP used simple-DRTs, and with such a task the pN amplitude is small and can easily go undetected.

The Role of Task Complexity on Frontal Event-related Potentials and Evidence in Favour of the Epiphenomenal Interpretation of the Go/No-Go N2 Effect

It is well established that task complexity can affect both performance and brain processing. Event-related potentials (ERPs) studies have shown modulation of the well-known N2 and P3 components. However, limited information is available on the recently described frontal components associated with processing within the anterior insular cortex. This work aims to shed light on the effect of task complexity on the insular ERP components associated with perceptual (pN1) and sensory-motor awareness (pP1), as well as with stimulus-response mapping (the pP2). Moreover, this comparison of tasks with different complexity was expected to provide a new point of view on the debate on inhibitory or conflict monitoring role of the N2 component. Thirty-two participants were assigned to two groups: one performed an easy response task (with only a target and a non-target stimulus), the other one performed a complex response task (with two target and two non-target stimuli). The task comparison revealed enhanced pP1 and pP2 components but a reduced N2 component in the complex paradigm. These results suggest that task complexity may entail greater processing strength in the anterior insula functions associated with endogenous perceptual processing. Also, findings on the N2 activity provide evidence against both the inhibitory and conflict interpretation of this component, as the N2 amplitude was reduced in the complex task.

Differences in Intersubject Early Readiness Potentials Between Voluntary and Instructed Actions

Readiness potential (RP) is a slow negative electroencephalogram (EEG) potential prior to voluntary action and was first described by Kornhuber and Deecke (1965). Recent studies have demonstrated that a few subjects do not exhibit standard RP before voluntary action. In our previous study, we also found that some subjects did not show an early RP preceding instructed action. Although this phenomenon may be meaningful, no studies have yet investigated its origins. In the present study, we designed and implemented an experimental paradigm involving voluntary and instructed actions in the form of hand movements from 29 subjects with concurrent acquisition of EEGs. According to whether the subjects showed a standard RP waveform during instructed action, they were divided into the SHOW and NOSHOW group. Then, the RPs and voltage topographies were plotted for each group. Finally, the slope of each epoch at the early RP phase was estimated. We showed that early RPs were absent in 14 of 29 subjects during instructed actions. Besides, based on the slow cortical potential (SCP) sampling hypothesis, we also showed a decreased proportion in the negative potential for the NOSHOW group. Our results suggested that early RP is absent among approximately half of subjects during instructed action and that the decreased proportion of negative potential shifts may account for the absence of early RP in the NOSHOW group.

Preparatory ERPs in visual, auditory, and somatosensory discriminative motor tasks

Previous event-related potential (ERP) studies mainly from the present research group showed a novel component, that is, the prefrontal negativity (pN), recorded in visual-motor discriminative tasks during the pre-stimulus phase. This component is concomitant to activity related to motor preparation, that is, the Bereitschaftspotential (BP). The pN component has been reported in experiments based on the visual modality only; for other modalities (acoustic and/or somatosensory) the presence of the pN warrants further investigation. This study represents a first step toward this direction; indeed, we aimed at describing the pN and the BP components in discriminative response tasks (DRTs) for three sensory modalities. In experiment 1 ERPs were recorded in 29 adults in visual and auditory DRT; an additional group of 15 adults participated to a somatosensory DRT (experiment 2). In line with previous results both the pN and the BP were clearly detectable in the visual modality. In the auditory modality the prefrontal pN was not detectable directly; however, the pN could be derived by subtraction of separate EEG traces recorded in a "passive" version of the same auditory task, in which motor responses were not required. In the somatosensory modality both the pN and the BP were detectable, although with lower amplitudes with respect to other two sensory modalities. Overall, regardless of the sensory modality, anticipatory task-related pN and BP components could be detected (or derived by subtraction) over both the prefrontal and motor cortices. These results support the view that anticipatory processes share common components among sensory modalities.

Remember how to use it: Effector-dependent modulation of spatial working memory activity in posterior parietal cortex

Working memory (WM) is the key process linking perception to action. Several lines of research have, accordingly, highlighted WM’s engagement in sensori-motor associations between retrospective stimuli and future behavior. Using human fMRI we investigated whether prior information about the effector used to respond in a WM task would have an impact on the way the same sensory stimulus is maintained in memory despite a behavioral response could not be readily planned. We focused on WM-related activity in posterior parietal cortex during the maintenance of spatial items for a subsequent match-to-sample comparison, which was reported either with a verbal or with a manual response. We expected WM activity to be higher for manual response trials, because of posterior parietal cortex’s engagement in both spatial WM and hand movement preparation. Increased fMRI activity for manual response trials in bilateral anterior intraparietal sulcus confirmed our expectations. These results imply that the maintenance of sensory material in WM is optimized for motor context, i.e. for the effector that will be relevant in the upcoming behavioral responses.

Neural representations of social valence bias economic interpersonal choices

Prior personal information is highly relevant during social interactions. Such knowledge aids in the prediction of others, and it affects choices even when it is unrelated to actual behaviour. In this investigation, we aimed to study the neural representation of positive and negative personal expectations, how these impact subsequent choices, and the effect of mismatches between expectations and encountered behaviour. We employed functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging in combination with a version of the Ultimatum Game (UG) where participants were provided with information about their partners' moral traits previous to receiving their fair or unfair offers. Univariate and multivariate analyses revealed the implication of the supplementary motor area (SMA) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) in the representation of expectations about the partners in the game. Further, these regions also represented the valence of these expectations, together with the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Importantly, the performance of multivariate classifiers in these clusters correlated with a behavioural choice bias to accept more offers following positive descriptions, highlighting the impact of the valence of the expectations on participants' economic decisions. Altogether, our results suggest that expectations based on social information guide future interpersonal decisions and that the neural representation of such expectations in the vmPFC is related to their influence on behaviour.

Real and imagined sensory feedback have comparable effects on action anticipation

The forward model monitors the success of sensory feedback to an action and links it to an efference copy originating in the motor system. The Readiness Potential (RP) of the electroencephalogram has been denoted as a neural signature of the efference copy. An open question is whether imagined sensory feedback works similarly to real sensory feedback. We investigated the RP to audible and imagined sounds in a button-press paradigm and assessed the role of sound complexity (vocal vs. non-vocal sound). Sensory feedback (both audible and imagined) in response to a voluntary action modulated the RP amplitude time-locked to the button press. The RP amplitude increase was larger for actions with expected sensory feedback (audible and imagined) than those without sensory feedback, and associated with N1 suppression for audible sounds. Further, the early RP phase was increased when actions elicited an imagined vocal (self-voice) compared to non-vocal sound. Our results support the notion that sensory feedback is anticipated before voluntary actions. This is the case for both audible and imagined sensory feedback and confirms a role of overt and covert feedback in the forward model.