Abstract
Inhibiting the responses to irrelevant stimuli is an essential component of human cognitive function. Pre-attentive auditory sensory gating (SG), an attenuated neural activation to the second identical stimulus, has been found to be related to the performance of higher-hierarchical brain function. However, it remains unclear whether other cortical regions, such as somatosensory cortex, also possess similar characteristics, or if such a relationship is modality-specific. This study used magnetoencephalography to record neuromagnetic responses to paired-pulse electrical stimulation to median nerve in 22 healthy participants. Somatosensory SG ratio and cortical brain oscillations were obtained and compared with the behavioral performance of inhibition control, as evaluated by somatosensory and auditory Go-Nogo tasks. The results showed that somatosensory P35m SG ratio correlated with behavioral performance of inhibition control. Such relationship was also established in relation to the auditory Go-Nogo task. Finally, a higher frequency value of evoked gamma oscillations was found to relate to a better somatosensory SG ability. In conclusion, our data provided an empirical link between automatic cortical inhibition and behavioral performance of attentive inhibition control. This study invites further research on the relationships among gamma oscillations, neurophysiological indices, and behavioral performance in clinical populations in terms of SG or cortical inhibition.
Highlights
This study examined the relationship between pre-attentive somatosensory SG ability by using MEG recordings and response inhibition through the evaluation of behavioral Go-Nogo tasks
Our results demonstrated that the somatosensory SG ability of the P35m component was correlated with the behavioral competence of inhibition control
By using time-frequency analysis from single trials, we found that a higher frequency value of evoked gamma oscillations in the SI was related to a better P35m SG ability
Summary
Through the link of GABA concentration between gamma oscillations and inhibition processes, it is reasonable to postulate that gamma oscillations in the somatosensory cortices may be associated with the SG ability and behavioral performance of response inhibition. Due to the important role of gamma oscillations in the inhibition control, we further explored whether the peak value of gamma oscillations in the SI is associated with the somatosensory SG and performance of inhibition control. To these aims, somatosensory SG and gamma oscillations was recorded in the MEG laboratory, and auditory-driven and somatosensory-driven Go-Nogo tasks were assessed in the behavioral research laboratory
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