EEG activity over ipsilateral and contralateral M1 during simple and complex hand tasks: variations with motor learning

TL;DR

This study explores how brain activity in the ipsilateral motor cortex changes during the learning of simple and complex hand tasks, revealing that complex tasks increase gamma band activity in this region.

Contribution

The study reveals how task complexity modulates ipsilateral motor cortex gamma band activation during motor learning, independent of hand dominance.

Findings

Before training, iM1 showed higher gamma band activation for simple tasks compared to complex tasks.

After training, iM1 gamma band activation increased for complex tasks and decreased for simple tasks, equalizing activation levels.

Contralateral M1 activation remained unchanged before and after training.

Abstract

The functional role of the ipsilateral primary motor cortex (iM1) activation in motor skill acquisition is widely researched; however, its interaction with task complexity remains unclear. This study aimed to address a critical gap in motor neuroscience: how the electroencephalogram (EEG) activation dynamics (specifically in the gamma frequency band) recorded by electrodes over the contralateral primary motor cortex (cM1) and iM1 evolve during the acquisition of simple vs. complex motor skills, and whether these dynamics are modulated by hand dominance.

In a randomized controlled trial, 48 right-handed participants were randomly assigned to train on either simple or complex visuomotor tasks using their right (SR, CR, respectively) or left hand (SL, CL, respectively), with 12 participants per group. One participant in the SL group was excluded due to poor EEG quality, resulting in 11 participants in the SL group. Participants completed 10 training blocks followed by skill retention tests. Brain activity was recorded continuously via 64-channel EEG.

Data from 47 participants revealed that, prior to training, the high-gamma band (50-80Hz) activation recorded by electrodes over iM1 exhibited significantly higher activation during simple tasks compared to complex tasks, irrespective of the hand used. However, after 10 training sessions, the electrodes over iM1 activation increased during complex tasks but decreased during simple task for both hands, eliminating significant differences in activation levels between simple and complex tasks. Furthermore, no significant changes were observed in the EEG activation recorded by electrodes over cM1 before and after training.

Our data indicated that task complexity affects the EEG activation identified from electrodes over iM1. Specifically, complex task training for both right and left hands enhanced the high-gamma frequency band power recorded from the electrodes over iM1. These findings highlight differential neural responses within specific frequency bands, potentially reflecting distinct impacts of the interventions applied to each group. This supports the idea that iM1 plays a dynamic, task-dependent role in skill acquisition, consistent with prior proposals that iM1 activation scales with task demands.

Figures