1
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Varga S, Pfister R, Neszmélyi B, Kunde W, Horváth J. Task-relevance and change detection in action-effect binding. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2024; 243:104147. [PMID: 38237474 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2024.104147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2023] [Revised: 12/08/2023] [Accepted: 01/12/2024] [Indexed: 02/17/2024] Open
Abstract
Features of actions are bound to coincidentally occurring stimuli so that re-encountering a stimulus retrieves a previous action episode. One hallmark of the purported mechanism in binding/retrieval tasks is a reliable reaction time advantage for repeating a previous response if tone stimuli repeat rather than alternate across trials. Other measures than reaction times yielded surprisingly mixed results, however. This is particularly true for continuous response features like force or response duration. We therefore conducted two experiments to resolve this disconnect between different measures. Experiment 1 tested for a potentially inflated effect in reaction time data, whereas Experiment 2 took the converse approach of studying conditions that would elicit similarly strong effects on alternative measures. Our results show that confounds in terms of auditory change detection do not inflate reaction time differences, reinforcing an interpretation of these effects as reflecting binding and retrieval. Moreover, strong effects on alternative measures appeared if these features were rendered task-relevant and came with sufficient variability. These observations provide critical evidence for binding and retrieval accounts, especially by showing that these accounts extend from binary decisions to continuous features of an actual motor response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sámuel Varga
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary; Department of Cognitive Science, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Hungary.
| | - Roland Pfister
- Department of Psychology, Trier University, Germany; Institute for Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience (ICAN), Trier University, Germany
| | - Bence Neszmélyi
- Department of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Wilfried Kunde
- Department of Psychology, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - János Horváth
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary; Institute of Psychology, Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary, Budapest, Hungary
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2
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Sturm S, Costa-Faidella J, SanMiguel I. Neural signatures of memory gain through active exploration in an oculomotor-auditory learning task. Psychophysiology 2023; 60:e14337. [PMID: 37209002 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.14337] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/02/2023] [Revised: 04/27/2023] [Accepted: 04/27/2023] [Indexed: 05/21/2023]
Abstract
Active engagement improves learning and memory, and self- versus externally generated stimuli are processed differently: perceptual intensity and neural responses are attenuated. Whether the attenuation is linked to memory formation remains unclear. This study investigates whether active oculomotor control over auditory stimuli-controlling for movement and stimulus predictability-benefits associative learning, and studies the underlying neural mechanisms. Using EEG and eye tracking we explored the impact of control during learning on the processing and memory recall of arbitrary oculomotor-auditory associations. Participants (N = 23) learned associations through active exploration or passive observation, using a gaze-controlled interface to generate sounds. Our results show faster learning progress in the active condition. ERPs time-locked to the onset of sound stimuli showed that learning progress was linked to an attenuation of the P3a component. The detection of matching movement-sound pairs triggered a target-matching P3b. There was no general modulation of ERPs through active learning. However, we found continuous variation in the strength of the memory benefit across participants: some benefited more strongly from active control during learning than others. This was paralleled in the strength of the N1 attenuation effect for self-generated stimuli, which was correlated with memory gain in active learning. Our results show that control helps learning and memory and modulates sensory responses. Individual differences during sensory processing predict the strength of the memory benefit. Taken together, these results help to disentangle the effects of agency, unspecific motor-based neuromodulation, and predictability on ERP components and establish a link between self-generation effects and active learning memory gain.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefanie Sturm
- Brainlab - Cognitive Neuroscience Research Group, Departament de Psicologia Clinica i Psicobiologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Jordi Costa-Faidella
- Brainlab - Cognitive Neuroscience Research Group, Departament de Psicologia Clinica i Psicobiologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain
| | - Iria SanMiguel
- Brainlab - Cognitive Neuroscience Research Group, Departament de Psicologia Clinica i Psicobiologia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Neurociències, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu, Esplugues de Llobregat, Spain
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3
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Egan S, Ghio M, Bellebaum C. Auditory N1 and P2 Attenuation in Action Observation: An Event-Related Potential Study Considering Effects of Temporal Predictability and Individualism. Biol Psychol 2023; 180:108575. [PMID: 37156324 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2023.108575] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/16/2023] [Revised: 04/30/2023] [Accepted: 05/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Tones that are generated by self-performed actions elicit attenuated N1 and P2 amplitudes, as measured by electroencephalography (EEG), compared to identical external tones, which is referred to as neurophysiological sensory attenuation (SA). At the same time, self-generated tones are perceived as less loud compared to external tones (perceptual SA). Action observation led in part to a similar neurophysiological and perceptual SA. The perceptual SA in observers was found in comparison to tones that were temporally predictable, and one study suggested that perceptual SA in observers might depend on the cultural dimension of individualism. In this study, we examined neurophysiological SA for tones elicited by self-performed and observed actions during simultaneous EEG acquisitions in two participants, extending the paradigm with a visual cue condition controlling for effects of temporal predictability. Moreover, we investigated the effect of individualism on neurophysiological SA in action observation. Relative to un-cued external tones, the N1 was only descriptively reduced for tones that were elicited by self-performed or observed actions and significantly attenuated for cued external tones. A P2 attenuation effect relative to un-cued external tones was found in all three conditions, with stronger effects for self- and other-generated tones than for cued external tones. We found no evidence for an effect of individualism. These findings add to previous evidence for neurophysiological SA in action performance and observation with a paradigm well-controlled for the effect of predictability and individualism, showing differential effects of the former on the N1 and P2 components, and no effect of the latter.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sophie Egan
- Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany.
| | - Marta Ghio
- Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany.
| | - Christian Bellebaum
- Institute of Experimental Psychology, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany.
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4
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Bolt NK, Loehr JD. The auditory P2 differentiates self- from partner-produced sounds during joint action: Contributions of self-specific attenuation and temporal orienting of attention. Neuropsychologia 2023; 182:108526. [PMID: 36870472 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2023.108526] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2022] [Revised: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 02/27/2023] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Abstract
Sensory attenuation of the auditory P2 event-related potential (ERP) has been shown to differentiate the sensory consequences of one's own from others' action in joint action contexts. However, recent evidence suggests that when people coordinate joint actions over time, temporal orienting of attention might simultaneously contribute to enhancing the auditory P2. The current study employed a joint tapping task in which partners produced tone sequences together to examine whether temporal orienting influences auditory ERP amplitudes during the time window of self-other differentiation. Our findings demonstrate that the combined requirements of coordinating with a partner toward a joint goal and immediately adjusting to the partner's tone timing enhance P2 amplitudes elicited by the partner's tone onsets. Furthermore, our findings replicate prior evidence for self-specific sensory attenuation of the auditory P2 in joint action, and additionally demonstrate that it occurs regardless of the coordination requirements between partners. Together, these findings provide evidence that temporal orienting and sensory attenuation both modulate the auditory P2 during joint action and suggest that both processes play a role in facilitating precise interpersonal coordination between partners.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole K Bolt
- Department of Psychology and Health Studies, University of Saskatchewan, 9 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5A5, Canada.
| | - Janeen D Loehr
- Department of Psychology and Health Studies, University of Saskatchewan, 9 Campus Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5A5, Canada.
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5
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Turning a blind eye to motor differences leads to bias in estimating action-related auditory ERP attenuation. Biol Psychol 2022; 173:108387. [PMID: 35843416 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2022.108387] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2021] [Revised: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 07/08/2022] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Event-related potential (ERP) studies investigating the processing of self-induced stimuli often rely on the assumption that ballistic actions and motor ERPs are constant across different sets of action effects. Since recent studies challenge this motor equivalence assumption, we examined whether neglecting effect-related motor differences can bias the estimation of auditory ERPs in a typical action-related ERP attenuation paradigm. We increased action variability with a force production task and selected an event subset in which the motor equivalence assumption was true. ERP attenuation estimated in this subset was compared with attenuation obtained in the standard task, where motor differences were not controlled. Violation of the motor equivalence assumption resulted in a positive deflection overlapping auditory ERPs elicited by self-induced sounds, resulting in the overestimation of N1- and underestimation of P2-attenuation. This demonstrates that sensory-effect-related motor differences should be considered when separating sensory and motor components in ERPs elicited by self-induced stimuli.
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6
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Volosin M, Horváth J. Force and electromyography reflections of sensory action-effect weighting during pinching. Hum Mov Sci 2022; 84:102969. [PMID: 35704968 DOI: 10.1016/j.humov.2022.102969] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Revised: 04/29/2022] [Accepted: 06/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Ideomotor theories suggest that different action-effects are not equally important in goal-directed actions, and that task-relevant information are weighted stronger during the representation of actions. This stronger weighting of task-relevant action-effects might also enable to utilize them as retrieval cues of the corresponding motor patterns. The aim of the present study was to investigate how the consistent presence or absence of a sound action-effect influenced the retrieval of the motor components of a simple, everyday action (pinching) as reflected by the pattern of force application and surface electromyogram (sEMG) recorded from the abductor pollicis brevis (APB) and first dorsal interosseous (FDI). Participants applied pairs of pinch impulses to a force sensitive resistor (FSR). The presence or absence of a sound action-effect and the between-action interval (BAI, 2 or 4 s) were manipulated blockwise, whereas the target force level (low or high) was randomly cued from trial to trial. When actions resulted in a sound, force and sEMG activity were reduced. This effect was more pronounced for low target force level trials, which is compatible with a stronger weighting of the sound action-effect when the intensity of the tactile and proprioceptive action-effects is low. Surprisingly, the FDI activity was more variable within actions pairs in the 2 s BAI conditions, which suggests that action pairs separated by the longer time interval might have been represented differently from those separated by the shorter interval.
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Affiliation(s)
- Márta Volosin
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar Tudósok körútja 2, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary; Institute of Psychology, University of Szeged, Egyetem utca 2, H-6722 Szeged, Hungary.
| | - János Horváth
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Magyar Tudósok körútja 2, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary; Institute of Psychology, Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary, Bécsi út 324, H-1037 Budapest, Hungary.
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7
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Binding of Task-Irrelevant Action Features and Auditory Action Effects. J Cogn 2022; 5:35. [PMID: 36072116 PMCID: PMC9400621 DOI: 10.5334/joc.225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Discrete task-relevant features of an overt response, such as response location, are bound to, and retrieved by coincidentally occurring auditory stimuli. Here we studied whether continuous, task-irrelevant response features like force or response duration also become bound to, and retrieved by such stimuli. In two experiments we asked participants to carry out a pinch which produced a certain auditory effect in a prime part of each trial. In a subsequent probe part, tones served as imperative stimuli which either repeated or changed as compared to the effect tone in the prime. We conjectured that the repetition of tones should result in more similar responses in terms of force output and duration as compared to tone changes. Most parameters did not show notable indications for such similarity increases, including peak force or area under force curve, though the correlation between response durations in prime and probe was higher when tones repeated rather than changed from prime to probe. We discuss these results regarding perceptual discriminability and deployment of attention to different nominally task-irrelevant aspects of pinch responses.
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8
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Han N, Jack BN, Hughes G, Whitford TJ. The Role of Action-Effect Contingency on Sensory Attenuation in the Absence of Movement. J Cogn Neurosci 2022; 34:1488-1499. [PMID: 35579993 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01867] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Stimuli that have been generated by a person's own willed motor actions generally elicit a suppressed electrophysiological, as well as phenomenological, response than identical stimuli that have been externally generated. This well-studied phenomenon, known as sensory attenuation, has mostly been studied by comparing ERPs evoked by self-initiated and externally generated sounds. However, most studies have assumed a uniform action-effect contingency, in which a motor action leads to a resulting sensation 100% of the time. In this study, we investigated the effect of manipulating the probability of action-effect contingencies on the sensory attenuation effect. In Experiment 1, participants watched a moving, marked tickertape while EEG was recorded. In the full-contingency (FC) condition, participants chose whether to press a button by a certain mark on the tickertape. If a button press had not occurred by the mark, a sound would be played a second later 100% of the time. If the button was pressed before the mark, the sound was not played. In the no-contingency (NC) condition, participants observed the same tickertape; in contrast, however, if participants did not press the button by the mark, a sound would occur only 50% of the time (NC-inaction). Furthermore, in the NC condition, if a participant pressed the button before the mark, a sound would also play 50% of the time (NC-action). In Experiment 2, the design was identical, except that a willed action (as opposed to a willed inaction) triggered the sound in the FC condition. The results were consistent across the two experiments: Although there were no differences in N1 amplitude between conditions, the amplitude of the Tb and P2 components were smaller in the FC condition compared with the NC-inaction condition, and the amplitude of the P2 component was also smaller in the FC condition compared with the NC-action condition. The results suggest that the effect of contingency on electrophysiological indices of sensory attenuation may be indexed primarily by the Tb and P2 components, rather than the N1 component which is most commonly studied.
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9
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Aberbach-Goodman S, Buaron B, Mudrik L, Mukamel R. Same Action, Different Meaning: Neural Substrates of Action Semantic Meaning. Cereb Cortex 2022; 32:4293-4303. [PMID: 35024783 DOI: 10.1093/cercor/bhab483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2021] [Revised: 11/21/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Voluntary actions are shaped by desired goals and internal intentions. Multiple factors, including the planning of subsequent actions and the expectation of sensory outcome, were shown to modulate kinetics and neural activity patterns associated with similar goal-directed actions. Notably, in many real-world tasks, actions can also vary across the semantic meaning they convey, although little is known about how semantic meaning modulates associated neurobehavioral measures. Here, we examined how behavioral and functional magnetic resonance imaging measures are modulated when subjects execute similar actions (button presses) for two different semantic meanings-to answer "yes" or "no" to a binary question. Our findings reveal that, when subjects answer using their right hand, the two semantic meanings are differentiated based on voxel patterns in the frontoparietal cortex and lateral-occipital complex bilaterally. When using their left hand, similar regions were found, albeit only with a more liberal threshold. Although subjects were faster to answer "yes" versus "no" when using their right hand, the neural differences cannot be explained by these kinetic differences. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first evidence showing that semantic meaning is embedded in the neural representation of actions, independent of alternative modulating factors such as kinetic and sensory features.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shahar Aberbach-Goodman
- Sagol School of Neuroscience and School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Batel Buaron
- Sagol School of Neuroscience and School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Liad Mudrik
- Sagol School of Neuroscience and School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Roy Mukamel
- Sagol School of Neuroscience and School of Psychological Sciences, Tel Aviv University, Tel-Aviv 6997801, Israel
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10
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Jack BN, Chilver MR, Vickery RM, Birznieks I, Krstanoska-Blazeska K, Whitford TJ, Griffiths O. Movement Planning Determines Sensory Suppression: An Event-related Potential Study. J Cogn Neurosci 2021; 33:2427-2439. [PMID: 34424986 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01747] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
Sensory suppression refers to the phenomenon that sensory input generated by our own actions, such as moving a finger to press a button to hear a tone, elicits smaller neural responses than sensory input generated by external agents. This observation is usually explained via the internal forward model in which an efference copy of the motor command is used to compute a corollary discharge, which acts to suppress sensory input. However, because moving a finger to press a button is accompanied by neural processes involved in preparing and performing the action, it is unclear whether sensory suppression is the result of movement planning, movement execution, or both. To investigate this, in two experiments, we compared ERPs to self-generated tones that were produced by voluntary, semivoluntary, or involuntary button-presses, with externally generated tones that were produced by a computer. In Experiment 1, the semivoluntary and involuntary button-presses were initiated by the participant or experimenter, respectively, by electrically stimulating the median nerve in the participant's forearm, and in Experiment 2, by applying manual force to the participant's finger. We found that tones produced by voluntary button-presses elicited a smaller N1 component of the ERP than externally generated tones. This is known as N1-suppression. However, tones produced by semivoluntary and involuntary button-presses did not yield significant N1-suppression. We also found that the magnitude of N1-suppression linearly decreased across the voluntary, semivoluntary, and involuntary conditions. These results suggest that movement planning is a necessary condition for producing sensory suppression. We conclude that the most parsimonious account of sensory suppression is the internal forward model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bradley N Jack
- University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia.,Australian National University, Canberra
| | - Miranda R Chilver
- University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia.,Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney
| | - Richard M Vickery
- University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia.,Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney
| | - Ingvars Birznieks
- University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia.,Neuroscience Research Australia, Sydney
| | | | | | - Oren Griffiths
- University of New South Wales Sydney, Australia.,Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
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11
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Sugimoto F, Kimura M, Takeda Y. Attenuation of auditory N2 for self-modulated tones during continuous actions. Biol Psychol 2021; 166:108201. [PMID: 34653547 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2021] [Revised: 10/01/2021] [Accepted: 10/04/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Event-related potentials elicited by tones generated by one's own discrete actions (e.g., button presses) are attenuated compared to those elicited by tones generated externally. The present study investigated whether ERP attenuation would occur when the timing or pitch of tones is modulated by continuous actions, as for such actions, a weak association between actions and their auditory consequences is assumed. In a modulation condition, participants modulated the time interval between tones (Experiment 1) or the pitch of tones (Experiment 2) by turning a steering wheel. In a listening condition, participants listened to the same tones as in the modulation condition without any action. The results revealed that the amplitude of N2 elicited by tones decreased in the modulation compared to listening conditions, consistently in the two experiments, suggesting relatively higher-order auditory processing can be mainly influenced by the prediction of action consequences when continuous actions modulate features of auditory stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fumie Sugimoto
- Human-Centered Mobility Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan.
| | - Motohiro Kimura
- Human-Centered Mobility Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan
| | - Yuji Takeda
- Human-Centered Mobility Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Japan
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12
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Neszmélyi B, Horváth J. Processing and utilization of auditory action effects in individual and social tasks. Acta Psychol (Amst) 2021; 217:103326. [PMID: 33989835 DOI: 10.1016/j.actpsy.2021.103326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2020] [Revised: 04/28/2021] [Accepted: 04/29/2021] [Indexed: 10/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The influence of action-effect integration on motor control and sensory processing is often investigated in arrangements featuring human-machine interactions. Such experiments focus on predictable sensory events produced through participants' interactions with simple response devices. Action-effect integration may, however, also occur when we interact with human partners. The current study examined the similarities and differences in perceptual and motor control processes related to generating sounds with or without the involvement of a human partner. We manipulated the complexity of the causal chain of events between the initial motor and the final sensory event. In the self-induced condition participants generated sounds directly by pressing a button, while in the interactive condition sounds resulted from a paired reaction-time task, that is, the final sound was generated indirectly, by relying on the contribution of the partner. Auditory event-related potentials (ERPs) and force application patterns were similar in the two conditions, suggesting that social action effects produced with the involvement of a second human agent in the causal sequence are processed, and utilized as action feedback in the same way as direct consequences of one's actions. The only reflection of a processing difference between the two conditions was a slow, posterior ERP waveform that started before the presentation of the auditory stimulus, which may reflect differences in stimulus expectancy or task difficulty.
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13
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Han N, Jack BN, Hughes G, Elijah RB, Whitford TJ. Sensory attenuation in the absence of movement: Differentiating motor action from sense of agency. Cortex 2021; 141:436-448. [PMID: 34146742 DOI: 10.1016/j.cortex.2021.04.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2020] [Revised: 02/13/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Sensory attenuation is the phenomenon that stimuli generated by willed motor actions elicit a smaller neurophysiological response than those generated by external sources. It has mostly been investigated in the auditory domain, by comparing ERPs evoked by self-initiated (active condition) and externally-generated (passive condition) sounds. The mechanistic basis of sensory attenuation has been argued to involve a duplicate of the motor command being used to predict sensory consequences of self-generated movements. An alternative possibility is that the effect is driven by between-condition differences in participants' sense of agency over the sound. In this paper, we disambiguated the effects of motor-action and sense of agency on sensory attenuation with a novel experimental paradigm. In Experiment 1, participants watched a moving, marked tickertape while EEG was recorded. In the active condition, participants chose whether to press a button by a certain mark on the tickertape. If a button-press had not occurred by the mark, then a tone would be played 1 s later. If the button was pressed prior to the mark, the tone was not played. In the passive condition, participants passively watched the animation, and were informed about whether a tone would be played on each trial. The design for Experiment 2 was identical, except that the contingencies were reversed (i.e., a button-press by the mark led to a tone). The results were consistent across the two experiments: while there were no differences in N1 amplitude between the active and passive conditions, the amplitude of the Tb component was suppressed in the active condition. The amplitude of the P2 component was enhanced in the active condition in both Experiments 1 and 2. These results suggest that motor-actions and sense of agency have differential effects on sensory attenuation to sounds and are indexed with different ERP components.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nathan Han
- School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Sydney, Australia.
| | - Bradley N Jack
- Research School of Psychology, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
| | - Gethin Hughes
- Department of Psychology, University of Essex, Colchester, UK
| | - Ruth B Elijah
- School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Sydney, Australia
| | - Thomas J Whitford
- School of Psychology, The University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Sydney, Australia
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14
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Endo N, Ito T, Mochida T, Ijiri T, Watanabe K, Nakazawa K. Precise force controls enhance loudness discrimination of self-generated sound. Exp Brain Res 2021; 239:1141-1149. [PMID: 33555383 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-020-05993-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2020] [Accepted: 11/19/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Motor executions alter sensory processes. Studies have shown that loudness perception changes when a sound is generated by active movement. However, it is still unknown where and how the motor-related changes in loudness perception depend on the task demand of motor execution. We examined whether different levels of precision demands in motor control affects loudness perception. We carried out a loudness discrimination test, in which the sound stimulus was produced in conjunction with the force generation task. We tested three target force amplitude levels. The force target was presented on a monitor as a fixed visual target. The generated force was also presented on the same monitor as a movement of the visual cursor. Participants adjusted their force amplitude in a predetermined range without overshooting using these visual targets and moving cursor. In the control condition, the sound and visual stimuli were generated externally (without a force generation task). We found that the discrimination performance was significantly improved when the sound was produced by the force generation task compared to the control condition, in which the sound was produced externally, although we did not find that this improvement in discrimination performance changed depending on the different target force amplitude levels. The results suggest that the demand for precise control to produce a fixed amount of force may be key to obtaining the facilitatory effect of motor execution in auditory processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nozomi Endo
- Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8902, Japan.,Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1, Ohkubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan.,Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, 5-3-1 Kojimachi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 102-0083, Japan
| | - Takayuki Ito
- Univ. Grenoble Alps, Grenoble-INP, CNRS, GIPSA-Lab, 11 rue des Mathématiques, Grenoble Campus BP46, 38402, Saint Martin D'heres Cedex, France.,Haskins Laboratories, 300 George Street, New Haven, CT, 06511, USA
| | - Takemi Mochida
- NTT Communication Science Laboratories, 3-1, Morinosato Wakamiya, Atsugi-shi, Kanagawa, 243-0198, Japan
| | - Tetsuya Ijiri
- Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8902, Japan
| | - Katsumi Watanabe
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, Waseda University, 3-4-1, Ohkubo, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan.,Art & Design, University of New South Wales, Oxford St & Greens Rd, Paddington, NSW 202, Australia
| | - Kimitaka Nakazawa
- Department of Life Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 3-8-1, Komaba, Meguro-ku, Tokyo, 153-8902, Japan.
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15
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Neszmélyi B, Horváth J. Action-related auditory ERP attenuation is not modulated by action effect relevance. Biol Psychol 2021; 161:108029. [PMID: 33556451 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2020] [Revised: 01/13/2021] [Accepted: 01/26/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by self-induced sounds are often smaller than ERPs elicited by identical, but externally generated sounds. This action-related auditory ERP attenuation is more pronounced when self-induced sounds are intermixed with similar sounds generated by an external source. The current study explored whether attentional factors contributed to this phenomenon. Participants performed tone-eliciting actions, while the action-tone contingency and the set of additional action effects (tactile only, tactile and visual) were manipulated in a blocked manner. Previous action-tone contingence-effects were replicated, but the addition of other sensory action consequences did not influence the magnitude of auditory ERP attenuation. This suggests that the amount of attention allocated to concurrent non-auditory action effects does not substantially affect the magnitude of action-related auditory ERP attenuation and is on a par with the assumption that action-related auditory ERP attenuation might be related to the process of distinguishing self-induced stimuli from externally generated ones.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bence Neszmélyi
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary; Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary; Pázmány Péter Catholic University, Budapest, Hungary.
| | - János Horváth
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Budapest, Hungary; Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church in Hungary, Hungary
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16
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Ghio M, Egan S, Bellebaum C. Similarities and Differences between Performers and Observers in Processing Auditory Action Consequences: Evidence from Simultaneous EEG Acquisition. J Cogn Neurosci 2020; 33:683-694. [PMID: 33378242 DOI: 10.1162/jocn_a_01671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/04/2022]
Abstract
In our social environment, we easily distinguish stimuli caused by our own actions (e.g., water splashing when I fill my glass) from stimuli that have an external source (e.g., water splashing in a fountain). Accumulating evidence suggests that processing the auditory consequences of self-performed actions elicits N1 and P2 ERPs of reduced amplitude compared to physically identical but externally generated sounds, with such reductions being ascribed to neural predictive mechanisms. It is unexplored, however, whether the sensory processing of action outcomes is similarly modulated by action observation (e.g., water splashing when I observe you filling my glass). We tested 40 healthy participants by applying a methodological approach for the simultaneous EEG recording of two persons: An observer observed button presses executed by a performer in real time. For the performers, we replicated previous findings of a reduced N1 amplitude for self- versus externally generated sounds. This pattern differed significantly from the one in observers, whose N1 for sounds generated by observed button presses was not attenuated. In turn, the P2 amplitude was reduced for processing action- versus externally generated sounds for both performers and observers. These findings show that both action performance and observation affect the processing of action-generated sounds. There are, however, important differences between the two in the timing of the effects, probably related to differences in the predictability of the actions and thus also the associated stimuli. We discuss how these differences might contribute to recognizing the stimulus as caused by self versus others.
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17
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Simal A, Bermudez P, Lefebvre C, Vachon F, Jolicœur P. Signal informativeness for sequence structure modulates human auditory cortical responses. Psychophysiology 2020; 58:e13745. [PMID: 33314147 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13745] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2019] [Revised: 11/09/2020] [Accepted: 11/18/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
We observed how information about the structure of tone sequences modulates cortical responses in the context of a standard short-term memory (STM) task. Participants heard two sequences of one, three, or five tones (203 ms on, 203 ms off) interspersed by a silent interval (2 s) and decided whether the sequences were the same or different. In experiment 1, sequence length was randomized between trials. During the first sequence, the amplitude of the auditory P2 was larger for the second tone in trials with three tones, and for the second and fourth tone in trials with five tones. We hypothesize the increase in P2 reflected a dynamic disambiguation process because these tones were predictive of a sequence longer than one or three tones. This hypothesis was supported by the absence of P2 amplitude modulation during the second sequence (when sequence length was known). In experiment 2, we blocked trials by sequence length to ensure the effects were not caused by some process related to encoding in STM. There was no P2 amplitude modulation in either the first or second sequences. Thus, tones 2 and 4 had a larger amplitude only when they provided new information about the length of the current tone sequence. To some extent, the auditory N1 also showed those modulations. Independent Component Analysis of the ERPs provided evidence the modulations in P2 amplitude could originate in auditory cortex. These results suggest a rapid dynamic adaptation of auditory cortical responses based on the local informativeness of auditory signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amour Simal
- Département de psychologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Patrick Bermudez
- Département de psychologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | - Christine Lefebvre
- Département de psychologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
| | | | - Pierre Jolicœur
- Département de psychologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Laboratory for Brain, Music and Sound Research (BRAMS), Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada.,Centre de Recherche de l'Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal, Montréal, QC, Canada
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18
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Multisensory action effects facilitate the performance of motor sequences. Atten Percept Psychophys 2020; 83:475-483. [PMID: 33135098 PMCID: PMC7875850 DOI: 10.3758/s13414-020-02179-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 10/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Research has shown that contingent, distinct action effects have a beneficial influence on motor sequence performance. Previous studies showed the beneficial influence of task-irrelevant action effects from one modality (auditory) on motor sequence performance, compared with no task-irrelevant action effects. The present study investigated the influence of task-irrelevant action effects on motor sequence performance from a multiple-modality perspective. We compared motor sequence performances of participants who received different task-irrelevant action effects in an auditory, visual, or audiovisual condition. In the auditory condition, key presses produced tones of a C-major scale that mapped to keys from left to right in ascending order. In the visual condition, key presses produced rectangles in different locations on the screen that mapped to keys from left to right in ascending order. In the audiovisual condition, both tone and rectangle effects were produced simultaneously by key presses. There were advantages for the audiovisual group in motor sequence initiation and execution. The results implied that, compared with unimodal action effects, action effects from multiple sensory modalities can prime an action faster and strengthen associations between successive actions, leading to faster motor sequence performance.
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19
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Nguyen AT, Albrecht MA, Lipp OV, Marinovic W. Motor output matters: Evidence of a continuous relationship between Stop/No-go P300 amplitude and peak force on failed inhibitions at the trial-level. Psychophysiology 2020; 57:e13558. [PMID: 32129505 DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13558] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2019] [Revised: 01/09/2020] [Accepted: 02/12/2020] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Motor actions can be suppressed with varying degrees of success, but this variability is not often captured as responses are typically represented as binary (response vs. no-response). Although the Stop/No-go P300 has been implicated as an index of inhibitory-control, it is unclear how the range of motor outputs relates to the P300. We examined the nature of this association in two experiments using an Anticipatory Timing and a Go/No-go Task, while measuring peak force, movement onset time, and P300. In both experiments, our results showed that trial-by-trial P300 amplitude on Failed Inhibitions were continuously related to peak force, where higher force (reflecting a greater degree of error) was associated with smaller P300 amplitude. Compared to Successful Inhibitions, P300 amplitude and onset latency on Failed Inhibitions were significantly reduced and delayed. Although the binary categorization of inhibition-success (Successful vs. Failed) accounts for significant variance in the P300, it misses a reliable linear relationship that can be captured by continuous measures of motor output. Overall, the results provide evidence that P300 may reflect the continuously varying engagement of inhibitory-control. We present an activation model to visualize the P300-force association and to illustrate how motor output might be modeled in the context of inhibitory-control. Our results highlight the relevance of P300 amplitude and the importance of studying the spectrum of motor output and the need for future models to account for motor output.
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Affiliation(s)
- An T Nguyen
- School of Psychology, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
| | | | - Ottmar V Lipp
- School of Psychology, Curtin University, Perth, WA, Australia
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20
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Thébault G, Pfister R, Michalland AH, Brouillet D. Flexible weighting of body-related effects in action production. Q J Exp Psychol (Hove) 2020; 73:1360-1367. [PMID: 32075495 DOI: 10.1177/1747021820911793] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
A previous study on ideomotor action control showed that predictable action effects in the agent's environment influenced how an action is carried out. If participants were required to perform a forceful keypress, they exerted more force when these actions would produce a quiet compared to a loud tone, and this observation suggests that anticipated proprioceptive and auditory action effects are integrated with each other during action planning and control. In light of the typically weak influence of body-related effect found in recent work, we aimed to extend this pattern of results to the intra-modal case of integrating proprioceptive/tactile feedback of a movement and following vibro-tactile effects. Our results suggest that the same weighted integration process as for the cross-modal case applies to the intra-modal case. These observations support the idea of a common mechanism which binds all action-related features in an integrated action representation, irrespective of whether these features relate to exafferent or reafferent signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Thébault
- Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Université Montpellier, EPSYLON EA 4556, Montpellier, France.,Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department, CH Paul Coste Floret, Lamalou-les-Bains, France
| | - Roland Pfister
- Department of Psychology III, University of Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Arthur-Henri Michalland
- Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Université Montpellier, EPSYLON EA 4556, Montpellier, France.,CNRS-UM LIRMM, Interactive Digital Humans, Montpellier, France
| | - Denis Brouillet
- Université Paul Valéry Montpellier 3, Université Montpellier, EPSYLON EA 4556, Montpellier, France
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21
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The role of auditory context in action-effect-related motor adaptation. Hum Mov Sci 2019; 67:102503. [DOI: 10.1016/j.humov.2019.102503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/11/2019] [Revised: 07/17/2019] [Accepted: 07/18/2019] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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22
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Klaffehn AL, Baess P, Kunde W, Pfister R. Sensory attenuation prevails when controlling for temporal predictability of self- and externally generated tones. Neuropsychologia 2019; 132:107145. [DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2019.107145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2019] [Revised: 07/11/2019] [Accepted: 07/12/2019] [Indexed: 10/26/2022]
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23
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Horváth J, Bíró B, Neszmélyi B. Action-effect related motor adaptation in interactions with everyday devices. Sci Rep 2018; 8:6592. [PMID: 29700369 PMCID: PMC5920059 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-25161-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2018] [Accepted: 04/06/2018] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Human action planning relies on integrated representations of motor acts and the associated consequences, which implies that changing the set of effects associated to a motor act might directly influence action planning and control. The present study investigated the hypothesis that action-effect manipulations also affected the motor components of the actions even when only a single action option was available. Participants performed simple everyday actions (pinched a plastic sheet, pressed a button, tapped on a table) in two conditions. In the motor-auditory condition actions resulted in the presentation of a tone, whereas no tones were presented in the motor condition. The applied force was softer in the motor-auditory than in the motor condition for all three types of actions. The temporal characteristics of force application showed that action-effect related motor adaptation occurred during action planning, but possibly also during action execution. This demonstrates that even in simple, well-defined interactions with everyday devices we take all (even seemingly task-irrelevant) action-effects into account during action planning, which affects the motor component of the action. The results also imply that in experiments manipulating contingent action effects, one cannot rely on the assumption that the motor part of the action is invariant between conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- János Horváth
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary.
| | - Botond Bíró
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Bence Neszmélyi
- Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology, Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
- Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary
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24
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Ghio M, Scharmach K, Bellebaum C. ERP correlates of processing the auditory consequences of own versus observed actions. Psychophysiology 2017; 55:e13048. [DOI: 10.1111/psyp.13048] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/23/2017] [Revised: 11/07/2017] [Accepted: 11/22/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Marta Ghio
- Institute of Experimental Psychology; Heinrich Heine University; Düsseldorf Germany
| | - Katrin Scharmach
- Institute of Experimental Psychology; Heinrich Heine University; Düsseldorf Germany
- Clinic for Neurology; Essen University Hospital; Essen Germany
| | - Christian Bellebaum
- Institute of Experimental Psychology; Heinrich Heine University; Düsseldorf Germany
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25
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Whitford TJ, Jack BN, Pearson D, Griffiths O, Luque D, Harris AW, Spencer KM, Le Pelley ME. Neurophysiological evidence of efference copies to inner speech. eLife 2017; 6. [PMID: 29199947 PMCID: PMC5714499 DOI: 10.7554/elife.28197] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2017] [Accepted: 10/28/2017] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Efference copies refer to internal duplicates of movement-producing neural signals. Their primary function is to predict, and often suppress, the sensory consequences of willed movements. Efference copies have been almost exclusively investigated in the context of overt movements. The current electrophysiological study employed a novel design to show that inner speech – the silent production of words in one’s mind – is also associated with an efference copy. Participants produced an inner phoneme at a precisely specified time, at which an audible phoneme was concurrently presented. The production of the inner phoneme resulted in electrophysiological suppression, but only if the content of the inner phoneme matched the content of the audible phoneme. These results demonstrate that inner speech – a purely mental action – is associated with an efference copy with detailed auditory properties. These findings suggest that inner speech may ultimately reflect a special type of overt speech. As you read this text, the chances are you can hear your own inner voice narrating the words. You may hear your inner voice again when silently considering what to have for lunch, or imagining how a phone conversation this afternoon will play out. Estimates suggest that we spend at least a quarter of our lives listening to our own inner speech. But to what extent does the brain distinguish between inner speech and the sounds we produce when we speak out loud? Listening to a recording of your own voice activates the brain more than hearing yourself speak out loud. This is because when the brain sends instructions to the lips, tongue, and vocal cords telling them to move, it also makes a copy of these instructions. This is known as an efference copy, and it enables regions of the brain that process sounds to predict what they are about to hear. When the actual sounds match those predicted – as when you hear yourself speak out loud – the brain’s sound-processing regions dampen down their responses. But does the inner speech in our heads also generate an efference copy? To find out, Whitford et al. tracked the brain activity of healthy volunteers as they listened to speech sounds through headphones. While listening to the sounds, the volunteers had to produce either the same speech sound or a different speech sound inside their heads. A specific type of brain activity decreased whenever the inner speech sound matched the external speech sound. This decrease did not occur when the two sounds were different. This suggests that the brain produces an efference copy for inner speech similar to that for external speech. These findings could ultimately benefit people who suffer from psychotic symptoms, for example as part of schizophrenia. Symptoms such as hearing voices are thought to reflect problems with producing and interpreting inner speech. The technique that Whitford et al. have developed will enable us to test this long-held but hitherto untestable idea. The results should increase our understanding of these symptoms and may eventually lead to new treatments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas J Whitford
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Sydney, Australia.,Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, Australia
| | - Bradley N Jack
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Sydney, Australia.,Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, Australia
| | - Daniel Pearson
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Sydney, Australia.,Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, Australia
| | - Oren Griffiths
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Sydney, Australia.,Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, Australia
| | - David Luque
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Sydney, Australia.,Department of Basic Psychology, University of Malaga, Malaga, Spain
| | - Anthony Wf Harris
- Brain Dynamics Centre, Westmead Institute for Medical Research, Sydney, Australia.,Discipline of Psychiatry, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
| | - Kevin M Spencer
- Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System, Boston, United States.,Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States
| | - Mike E Le Pelley
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Sydney, Australia
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26
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Cao L, Veniero D, Thut G, Gross J. Role of the Cerebellum in Adaptation to Delayed Action Effects. Curr Biol 2017; 27:2442-2451.e3. [PMID: 28781049 PMCID: PMC5571438 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2017.06.074] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2017] [Revised: 06/08/2017] [Accepted: 06/29/2017] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Actions are typically associated with sensory consequences. For example, knocking at a door results in predictable sounds. These self-initiated sensory stimuli are known to elicit smaller cortical responses compared to passively presented stimuli, e.g., early auditory evoked magnetic fields known as M100 and M200 components are attenuated. Current models implicate the cerebellum in the prediction of the sensory consequences of our actions. However, causal evidence is largely missing. In this study, we introduced a constant delay (of 100 ms) between actions and action-associated sounds, and we recorded magnetoencephalography (MEG) data as participants adapted to the delay. We found an increase in the attenuation of the M100 component over time for self-generated sounds, which indicates cortical adaptation to the introduced delay. In contrast, no change in M200 attenuation was found. Interestingly, disrupting cerebellar activity via transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) abolished the adaptation of M100 attenuation, while the M200 attenuation reverses to an M200 enhancement. Our results provide causal evidence for the involvement of the cerebellum in adapting to delayed action effects, and thus in the prediction of the sensory consequences of our actions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liyu Cao
- School of Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QB, UK; Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QB, UK; Department of Psychology (III), University of Würzburg, 97070 Würzburg, Germany.
| | - Domenica Veniero
- School of Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QB, UK; Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QB, UK
| | - Gregor Thut
- School of Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QB, UK; Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QB, UK
| | - Joachim Gross
- School of Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QB, UK; Institute of Neuroscience and Psychology, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QB, UK
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