Should I stay or should I go? How local-global implicit temporal expectancy shapes proactive motor control: An hdEEG study

Abstract

In this study, we investigated the effect of global temporal prediction on the brain capability to implicitly adjust proactive motor control. We used the Dynamic Temporal Prediction (DTP), in which local and global predictions of an imperative stimulus were manipulated by using different stimulus-onset asynchronies (SOAs), presented with several distribution probabilities. At a behavioural level, the results show a performance adjustment (reaction time decrease) depending on the implicit use of global prediction. At a neurophysiological level, three separate computational steps underlying motor control were investigated. First, the expectancy implementation was associated with global probability-dependent contingent negative variation (CNV) modulation supported by the recruitment of a frontoparietal network involving the anterior cingulate, the left intraparietal sulcus, the occipital, and the premotor areas. Second, the response implementation was modulated by the global prediction fostering stimulus processing (P3 increase) at the motor response level, as suggested by both oscillatory (beta desynchronization), as well as source analysis (frontal cortical network). Third, the expectancy violation lead to a negativity increase (omission-detection potential) time locked to the global rule violation and additionally, to delta and theta power increase interpreted as inhibitory control and rule violation detection, respectively. The expectancy violation further engaged a left lateralized network including the temporal parietal junction (TPJ) and the motor cortex, suggesting involvement of attentional reorienting and a motor adjustment. Finally, these findings provide new insights on the neurocognitive mechanisms underlying proactive motor control, suggesting an overlapping between implicit and explicit processes.