The lifespan trajectory of neural oscillatory activity in the motor system

Elizabeth Heinrichs-Graham; Timothy J McDermott; Mackenzie S Mills; Alex I Wiesman; Yu-Ping Wang; Julia M Stephen; Vince D Calhoun; Tony W Wilson

doi:10.1016/j.dcn.2018.02.013

The lifespan trajectory of neural oscillatory activity in the motor system

Dev Cogn Neurosci. 2018 Apr:30:159-168. doi: 10.1016/j.dcn.2018.02.013. Epub 2018 Mar 2.

Authors

Elizabeth Heinrichs-Graham¹, Timothy J McDermott², Mackenzie S Mills², Alex I Wiesman³, Yu-Ping Wang⁴, Julia M Stephen⁵, Vince D Calhoun⁶, Tony W Wilson³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), Omaha, NE, USA; Center for Magnetoencephalography, UNMC, Omaha, NE, USA,. Electronic address: e.heinrichsgraham@unmc.edu.
² Center for Magnetoencephalography, UNMC, Omaha, NE, USA.
³ Department of Neurological Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), Omaha, NE, USA; Center for Magnetoencephalography, UNMC, Omaha, NE, USA.
⁴ Department of Biomedical Engineering, Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, USA.
⁵ The Mind Research Network, Albuquerque, NM, USA,; Department of Neurosciences, University of New Mexico (UNM), Albuquerque, NM, USA.
⁶ The Mind Research Network, Albuquerque, NM, USA,; Department of Neurosciences, University of New Mexico (UNM), Albuquerque, NM, USA,; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UNM, Albuquerque, NM, USA,; Department of Computer Science, UNM, Albuquerque, NM, USA,; Department of Psychiatry, UNM, Albuquerque, NM, USA.

Abstract

Numerous studies connect beta oscillations in the motor cortices to volitional movement, and beta is known to be aberrant in multiple movement disorders. However, the dynamic interplay between these beta oscillations, motor performance, and spontaneous beta power (e.g., during rest) in the motor cortices remains unknown. This study utilized magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate these three parameters and their lifespan trajectory in 57 healthy participants aged 9-75 years old. Movement-related beta activity was imaged using a beamforming approach, and voxel time series data were extracted from the peak voxels in the primary motor cortices. Our results indicated that spontaneous beta power during rest followed a quadratic lifespan trajectory, while movement-related beta oscillations linearly increased with age. Follow-on analyses showed that spontaneous beta power and the beta minima during movement, together, significantly predicted task performance above and beyond the effects of age. These data are the first to show lifespan trajectories among measures of beta activity in the motor cortices, and suggest that the healthy brain compensates for age-related increases in spontaneous beta activity by increasing the strength of beta oscillations within the motor cortices which, when successful, enables normal motor performance into later life.

Keywords: Beta ERD; Magnetoencephalography; Motor control; Movement; Precentral gyrus.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Brain / physiopathology*
Child
Cortical Synchronization / physiology*
Female
Humans
Magnetoencephalography / methods*
Male
Middle Aged
Motor Cortex / physiopathology*
Young Adult

Grants and funding

R01 MH103220/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/United States