Cognitive loading via mental arithmetic modulates effects of blink-related oscillations on precuneus and ventral attention network regions.

Abstract

Blink-related oscillations (BROs) have been linked with environmental monitoring processes associated with blinking, with cortical activations in the bilateral precuneus. Although BROs have been described under resting and passive fixation conditions, little is known about their characteristics under cognitive loading. To address this, we investigated BRO effects during both mental arithmetic (MA) and passive fixation (PF) tasks using magnetoencephalography (n =20), while maintaining the same sensory environment in both tasks. Our results confirmed the presence of BRO effects in both MA and PF tasks, with similar characteristics including blink-related increase in global field power and blink-related activation of the bilateral precuneus. In addition, cognitive loading due to MA also modulated BRO effects by decreasing BRO-induced cortical activations in key brain regions including the bilateral anterior precuneus. Interestingly, blinking during MA-but not PF-activated regions of the ventral attention network (i.e., right supramarginal gyrus and inferior frontal gyrus), suggesting possible recruitment of these areas for blink processing under cognitive loading conditions. Time-frequency analysis revealed a consistent pattern of BRO-related effects in the precuneus in both tasks, but with task-related functional segregation within the anterior and posterior subregions. Based on these findings, we postulate a potential neurocognitive mechanism for blink processing in the precuneus. This study is the first investigation of BRO effects under cognitive loading, and our results provide compelling new evidence for the important cognitive implications of blink-related processing in the human brain.