Rolandic Rhythm Research Articles

A touching Sight: EEG/ERP correlates for the vicarious processing of affectionate touch

Observers can simulate aspects of other people's tactile experiences. We asked whether they do so when faced with full-body social interactions, whether emerging representations go beyond basic sensorimotor mirroring, and whether they depend on processing goals and inclinations. In an EEG/ERP study, we presented line-drawn, dyadic interactions with and without affectionate touch. In an explicit and an implicit task, participants categorized images into touch versus no-touch and same versus opposite sex interactions, respectively. Modulations of central Rolandic rhythms implied that affectionate touch displays engaged sensorimotor mechanisms. Additionally, the late positive potential (LPP) being larger for images with as compared to without touch pointed to an involvement of higher order socio-affective mechanisms. Task and sex modulated touch perception. Sensorimotor responding, indexed by Rolandic rhythms, was fairly independent of the task but appeared less effortful in women than in men. Touch induced socio-affective responding, indexed by the LPP, declined from explicit to implicit processing in women and disappeared in men. In sum, this study provides first evidence that vicarious touch from full-body social interactions entails shared sensorimotor as well as socio-affective experiences. Yet, mental representations of touch at a socio-affective level are more likely when touch is goal relevant and observers are female. Together, these results outline the conditions under which touch in visual media may be usefully employed to socially engage observers.

Human primary motor cortex is both activated and stabilized during observation of other person's phasic motor actions.

When your favourite athlete flops over the high-jump bar, you may twist your body in front of the TV screen. Such automatic motor facilitation, ‘mirroring’ or even overt imitation is not always appropriate. Here, we show, by monitoring motor-cortex brain rhythms with magnetoencephalography (MEG) in healthy adults, that viewing intermittent hand actions of another person, in addition to activation, phasically stabilizes the viewer's primary motor cortex, with the maximum of half a second after the onset of the seen movement. Such a stabilization was evident as enhanced cortex–muscle coherence at 16–20 Hz, despite signs of almost simultaneous suppression of rolandic rhythms of approximately 7 and 15 Hz as a sign of activation of the sensorimotor cortex. These findings suggest that inhibition suppresses motor output during viewing another person's actions, thereby withholding unintentional imitation.

Kinematic and Neurophysiological Consequences of an Assisted-Force-Feedback Brain-Machine Interface Training: A Case Study

In a proof-of-principle prototypical demonstration we describe a new type of brain-machine interface (BMI) paradigm for upper limb motor-training. The proposed technique allows a fast contingent and proportionally modulated stimulation of afferent proprioceptive and motor output neural pathways using operant learning. Continuous and immediate assisted-feedback of force proportional to rolandic rhythm oscillations during actual movements was employed and illustrated with a single case experiment. One hemiplegic patient was trained for 2 weeks coupling somatosensory brain oscillations with force-field control during a robot-mediated center-out motor-task whose execution approaches movements of everyday life. The robot facilitated actual movements adding a modulated force directed to the target, thus providing a non-delayed proprioceptive feedback. Neuro-electric, kinematic, and motor-behavioral measures were recorded in pre- and post-assessments without force assistance. Patient’s healthy arm was used as control since neither a placebo control was possible nor other control conditions. We observed a generalized and significant kinematic improvement in the affected arm and a spatial accuracy improvement in both arms, together with an increase and focalization of the somatosensory rhythm changes used to provide assisted-force-feedback. The interpretation of the neurophysiological and kinematic evidences reported here is strictly related to the repetition of the motor-task and the presence of the assisted-force-feedback. Results are described as systematic observations only, without firm conclusions about the effectiveness of the methodology. In this prototypical view, the design of appropriate control conditions is discussed. This study presents a novel operant-learning-based BMI-application for motor-training coupling brain oscillations and force feedback during an actual movement.

Idling With the μ Rhythm? Focus on “7 to 12 Hz Activity in Rat Gustatory Cortex Reflects Disengagement From a Fluid Self-Administration Task”

Large-amplitude oscillations in a frequency range of 7–12 Hz are among the most prominent within the somatosensory cortex of rodents but the function of these oscillations is currently controversial. Such oscillations develop during quiet immobility and appear analogous to the human μ rhythm ([

Modulation of motor cortex excitability by median nerve and digit stimulation.

We investigated the time course of changes in motor cortex excitability after median nerve and digit stimulation. Although previous studies showed periods of increased and decreased corticospinal excitability following nerve stimulation, changes in cortical excitability beyond 200 ms after peripheral nerve stimulation have not been reported. Magnetoencephalographic studies have shown an increase in the 20-Hz rolandic rhythm from 200 to 1000 ms after median nerve stimulation. We tested the hypothesis that this increase is associated with reduced motor cortex excitability. The right or left median nerve was stimulated and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was applied to left motor cortex at different conditioning-test (C-T) intervals. Motor-evoked potentials (MEPs) were recorded from the right abductor pollicis brevis (APB), first dorsal interosseous (FDI), and extensor carpi radialis (ECR) muscles. Right median nerve stimulation reduced test MEP amplitude at C-T intervals from 400 to 1000 ms for APB, at C-T intervals from 200 to 1000 ms for FDI, and at C-T intervals of 200 and 600 ms for ECR, but had no effect on FDI F-wave amplitude at a C-T interval of 200 ms. Left median nerve (ipsilateral to TMS) stimulation resulted in less inhibition than right median nerve stimulation, but test MEP amplitude was significantly reduced at a C-T interval of 200 ms for all three muscles. Digit stimulation also reduced test MEP amplitude at C-T intervals of 200-600 ms. The time course for decreased motor cortex excitability following median nerve stimulation corresponds well to rebound of the 20-Hz cortical rhythm and supports the hypothesis that this increased power represents cortical deactivation.

Motor imagery activates primary sensorimotor area in humans

The spatiotemporal patterns of Rolandic mu and beta rhythms were studied during motor imagery with a dense array of EEG electrodes. The subjects were instructed to imagine movements of either the right or the left hand, corresponding to visual stimuli on a computer screen. It was found that unilateral motor imagery results in a short-lasting and localized EEG change over the primary sensorimotor area. The Rolandic rhythms displayed an event-related desynchronization (ERD) only over the contralateral hemisphere. In two of the three investigated subjects, an enhanced Rolandic rhythm was found over the ipsilateral side. The pattern of EEG desynchronization related to imagination of a movement was similar to the pattern during planing of a voluntary movement.

Modulation of Human Cortical Rolandic Rhythms during Natural Sensorimotor Tasks

We studied modulation of cortical neuromagnetic rhythms in association with left and right median nerve stimulation, during rest, finger movements, and passive tactile hand stimulation, in seven healthy, right-handed adults. In the rest condition, the amplitude of the rhythmic sensorimotor activity decreased immediately after the median nerve stimuli and increased above the prestimulus level within 0.4 s afterward, especially in the 7- to 25-Hz band. The rebound occurred 100–300 ms earlier for 20 (7–15)- than for 10 (15–25)-Hz activity. Suppressions and rebounds were strongest in the contralateral sensorimotor hand area for the 20-Hz, but not for the 10-Hz, activity. The maximum rebound was on average 22–34% stronger in the left than in the right hemisphere. Active exploration of objects abolished rebounds of both 10- and 20-Hz signals in the contralateral hemisphere and markedly diminished them ipsilaterally. Finger movements without touching an object and passive tactile stimulation produced a weaker effect. The sensorimotor rhythms thus show a characteristic suppression and subsequent rebound after electrical median nerve stimulation. The rebound is left-hemisphere dominant in right-handed subjects and its suppression reveals bilateral cortical activation during both motor tasks and passive tactile stimulation, especially for explorative finger movements.

Spatiotemporal characteristics of sensorimotor neuromagnetic rhythms related to thumb movement

To assess the spatial extent and temporal behavior of rolandic rhythms we recorded neuromagnetic signals from four healthy subjects with a 24-channel magnetometer. The subjects performed self-paced thumb movements or the motions were triggered by electrical stimulation of the median nerve at the wrist. The main frequency components of the magnetic mu rhythm signals centered at 10 and 20 Hz. Both components were completely suppressed during the movement and increased substantially 0.5–2.5 s after it; the 20-Hz component reacted about 300 ms faster. The rebound was stronger after self-paced than after stimulated motion, and after contra- than after ipsilateral movement. The reactive source areas were identified for both frequency ranges, and they clustered on partly overlapping cortical areas of 6–8 cm 2 wide along the course of the central sulcus. The 10-Hz rhythmic oscillations occurred predominantly at the primary somatosensory hand cortex; the sources of the 20-Hz signals were slightly more anterior. We hypothesize that the 10-Hz signal is a true somatosensory rhythm whereas the 20-Hz activity is essentially somatomotor in origin.

A Movement-Associated Fast Rolandic Rhythm

A stereotyped 32 Hz rolandic rhythm maximal over the mesial cortex and occurring only with voluntary movement is described in a patient with tonic postural seizures. This abnormal but nonictal rhythm, which is probably generated subcortically, is expressed synchronously at the level of the cortex and peripherally in the EMG.

An electroencephalographic study of disorders of amino-acid metabolism during the first days of life (author's transl)

The authors have attempted a systematic E.E.G. study in 32 neonates suffering from disorders of amino-acid metabolism, during the first days of life. These consisted of cases with ketosis (13 cases of leucinosis, 5 methylmalonic acidaemia, isovaleric acidaemia and 3 with hyperlactacidaemia) and cases without ketosis (6 cases of hyperglycinaemia and 3 with congenital hyperammonaemia). A study of the E.E.G. showed some characteristic features, the most typical of which were: -a periodic tracing with large sharps complexes intermingled with less active periods occurring in every case of hyperglycinaemia without ketosis, in 2 cases of leucinosis and 2 cases of methylmalonic acidaemia. This record indicates a poor prognosis. -a less stereotyped periodic tracing with variable evolution. -distinctive figures characterised by rapid Rolandic rhythms always found in cases of leucinosis compared with sharp spindles (between the 10th and 30th day). It is concluded that the E.E.G. patterns are not in close correlation with the anatomical lesions.