Slow cortical potential shifts preceding sensorimotor interactions

It is well known that synchronization of cortical neurons is modulated (“gating”) by the chronological interaction between somatosensory and sensorimotor events. This study tested the hypothesis that the anticipatory processes for this interaction increase the synchronization of cortical neurons as revealed by negative event-related potentials (contingent negative variation, CNV). High-resolution electroencephalographic data (128 electrodes) were recorded in 14 subjects. In the “sensorimotor interaction” condition, the subjects were waiting for a galvanic somatosensory stimulation at the left hand concomitant with a Go or NoGo stimulus (50% of Go trials triggering right hand movements). In the control condition, the Go/NoGo stimulus followed the somatosensory stimulation of 1.5 s. The electroencephalographic data were spatially enhanced by surface Laplacian estimation. In the control condition, the CNV was observed only in the foreperiod between the somatosensory stimulation and Go/NoGo task (i.e. no CNV before the somatosensory stimuli). It was spatially localized in the primary sensorimotor area contralateral to the possible motor response. In the “sensorimotor interaction” condition, the CNV preceded the concomitant somatosensory stimulation and Go/NoGo task and was distributed to the frontocentral midline other than the contralateral sensorimotor area. These results suggest that the anticipatory processes for sensorimotor interactions increase the synchronization of cortical neurons in the frontocentral midline, possibly due to mechanisms sub-serving top-down attentional processes.