Beta and gamma oscillations index cognitive interference effects across a distributed motor network

• Published in: NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Vol. 213; p. 116747
• Main Authors: Wiesman, Alex I., Koshy, Sam M., Heinrichs-Graham, Elizabeth, Wilson, Tony W.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.06.2020; Elsevier Limited; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Attention - physiology; Beta Rhythm - physiology; Cerebral Cortex - physiology; Cognition - physiology; Cognitive ability; Cortex (parietal); Cortex (premotor); Female; Gamma Rhythm - physiology; Humans; Magnetoencephalography; Male; Motor Activity - physiology; Motor task performance; Multi-source interference task; Neural oscillations; Oscillations; Studies; Superadditivity; Young Adult; Neural oscillations; Multi-source interference task; Magnetoencephalography; Superadditivity
• ISSN: 1053-8119; 1095-9572
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116747

The planning and execution of an efficient motor plan is essential to everyday cognitive function, and relies on oscillatory neural responses in both the beta (14–30 ​Hz) and gamma (>30 ​Hz) bands. Such motor control requires not only the integration of salient information from the environment, but also the inhibition of irrelevant or distracting inputs that often manifest as forms of cognitive interference. While the effects of cognitive interference on motor neural dynamics has been an area of increasing interest recently, it remains unclear whether different subtypes of interference differentially impact these dynamics. We address this issue using magnetoencephalography and a novel adaptation of the Multi-Source Interference Task, wherein two common subtypes of cognitive interference are each presented in isolation, as well as simultaneously. We find evidence for the subtype-invariant indexing of cognitive interference across a widely distributed set of motor regions oscillating in the beta range, including the bilateral primary motor and posterior parietal cortices. Further, we find that superadditive effects of cognitive interference subtypes on behavior are paralleled by gamma oscillations in the contralateral premotor cortex, and determine that these gamma oscillations also predict the superadditive effects on behavior. •Adults completed a novel adaptation of the multisource interference task during MEG.•Task performance was reduced by each subtype of cognitive interference in isolation.•Subtypes presented concurrently exhibited a superadditive effect on behavior.•Beta oscillations indexed cognitive interference across distributed motor cortices.•Superadditivity was indexed by gamma oscillations in left premotor cortex.