Response preparation and inhibition: The role of the cortical sensorimotor beta rhythm

Paradigms requiring either a GO or a NO-GO response are often used to study the neural mechanisms of response inhibition. Here this issue is examined from the perspective of event-related beta (14-30 Hz) oscillatory activity. Two macaque monkeys performed a task that began with a self-initiated lever depression and maintenance (sustained motor output) and required a visual pattern discrimination followed by either a lever release (GO) or continued lever-holding (NO-GO) response. Analyzing simultaneous local field potentials (LFPs) from primary somatosensory, frontal motor, and posterior parietal cortices, we report two results. First, beta oscillation desynchronized shortly after stimulus presentation, the onset of which was approximately the same for both the GO and NO-GO conditions (∼110 ms). Since it is well known that beta desynchronization is a reliable indicator of movement preparation, this result suggests that early motor preparation took place in both conditions. Second, following the GO/NO-GO decision (∼190 ms), beta activity rebounded significantly (∼300 ms) only in the NO-GO condition. Coherence and Granger causality measures revealed that the dynamical organization of the rebounded beta network was similar to that existing during the sustained motor output prior to stimulus onset. This finding suggests that response inhibition led to the restoration of the sensorimotor network to its prestimulus state.