Differential modulation of behavior by infraslow activities of different brain regions

PeerJ. 2022 Feb 1:10:e12875. doi: 10.7717/peerj.12875. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

The oscillation phase of electroencephalograms (EEGs) is associated with behavioral performance. Several studies have demonstrated this association for relatively fast oscillations (>1 Hz); a similar finding has also been reported for slower oscillations, showing that behavioral performance is correlated with the phase of infraslow activity (ISA, 0.01-0.1 Hz) of electroencephalography (EEG). However, the previous study only investigated ISA in a local brain region using a relatively simple task (somatosensory discrimination task), leaving it difficult to determine how the EEG ISA for various brain regions is associated with behavioral performance. In addition, it is not known whether the EEG ISA phase modulates more complex behavioral task performance. In the present study, we analyzed the ISA of whole-brain EEG of participants performing various behaviors while playing video games. We found that behavior was associated with the specific oscillation phase of EEG ISA when that behavior was independent of other behaviors. In addition, we found that the EEG ISA oscillation phases modulating the different behaviors varied across brain regions. Our results suggest that the EEG ISA for different brain regions modulates behavioral performance in different ways and such modulation of EEG ISA can be generalized to diverse behaviors. This study may deepen the understanding of how EEG ISA modulates behavior and increases the applicability of EEG ISA.

Keywords: Behavior modulation; Behavioral performance; Brain region; Electroencephalogram; Infraslow activity; Oscillation phase.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Brain*
  • Electroencephalography* / methods
  • Humans

Grants and funding

This research was supported by the Brain Convergence Research Programs of the National Research Foundation (NRF) funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (NRF-2019M3E5D2A01058328) and the U-K Brand Research Fund (1.210046.01) of UNIST (Ulsan National Institute of Science & Technology). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.