Electrocorticography to Investigate Age-Related Brain Lateralization on Pediatric Motor Inhibition.

Chao-Hung Kuo,Bo-Wei Chen,Patrick Rice,Kaitlyn Casimo,Yu-Chun Lo,Kelly Collins,Edward J Novotny,Kurt E Weaver,You-Yin Chen,Jing Wu,Shih-Hung Yang,Jeffrey G Ojemann

doi:10.3389/fneur.2022.747053

Abstract

Response inhibition refers to the ability to suppress inappropriate actions that interfere with goal-driven behavior. The inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) is known to be associated with inhibition of a motor response by assuming executive control over motor cortex outputs. This study aimed to evaluate the pediatric development of response inhibition through subdural electrocorticography (ECoG) recording. Subdural ECoG recorded neural activities simultaneously during a Go/No-Go task, which was optimized for children. Different frequency power [theta: 4–8 Hz; beta: 12–40 Hz; high-gamma (HG): 70–200 Hz] was estimated within the IFG and motor cortex. Age-related analysis was computed by each bandpass power ratio between Go and No-Go conditions, and phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) over IFG by using the modulating index metric in two conditions. For all the eight pediatric patients, HG power was more activated in No-Go trials than in Go trials, in either right- or left-side IFG when available. In the IFG region, the power over theta and HG in No-Go conditions was higher than those in Go conditions, with significance over the right side (p < 0.05). The age-related lateralization from both sides to the right side was observed from the ratio of HG power and PAC value between the No-Go and Go trials. In the pediatric population, the role of motor inhibition was observed in both IFG, with age-related lateralization to the right side, which was proved in the previous functional magnetic resonance imaging studies. In this study, the evidence correlation of age and response inhibition was observed directly by the evidence of cortical recordings.

Highlights

Motor inhibition refers to the ability to suppress inappropriate or prepotent actions that interfere with goal-driven behavior
The aim of this study is to investigate the neural activity, extracted from in-dwelling ECoG electrodes, during motor inhibition in the pediatric population, and estimate the degree to which phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) is associated with the maturation of motor inhibition
The results revealed that the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and a dorsal portion of the pre-supplementary motor areas (SMA) were more reactive to No-Go cues compared with Go cues, whether the frequency of No-Go cues was high or low [47]

Summary

Introduction

Motor inhibition refers to the ability to suppress inappropriate or prepotent actions that interfere with goal-driven behavior. Go/No-Go tasks are designed to provide experimental epochs of movement preparation, response execution, and motor inhibition. They are widely used to investigate neural responses attributable to motor inhibition [1]. The results indicate that motor inhibition is a largely lateralized process within (generally) the right hemisphere, with the right IFG believed to be sensitive to response suppression [7]. Within this inhibition network, the right IFG is predicted to serve as an execution center when inhibition is required [8–10]

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Conclusion