02272nas a2200337 4500008004100000022001400041245011100055210006900166260001200235300001100247490000800258520124200266653002501508653001001533653000901543653001701552653002001569653001801589653002601607653002501633653001101658653001101669653000901680653001601689100002301705700003201728700001901760700001901779700001901798856011701817 2021 eng d a1095-957200aModulation in cortical excitability disrupts information transfer in perceptual-level stimulus processing.0 aModulation in cortical excitability disrupts information transfe c11/2021 a1184980 v2433 a
Despite significant interest in the neural underpinnings of behavioral variability, little light has been shed on the cortical mechanism underlying the failure to respond to perceptual-level stimuli. We hypothesized that cortical activity resulting from perceptual-level stimuli is sensitive to the moment-to-moment fluctuations in cortical excitability, and thus may not suffice to produce a behavioral response. We tested this hypothesis using electrocorticographic recordings to follow the propagation of cortical activity in six human subjects that responded to perceptual-level auditory stimuli. Here we show that for presentations that did not result in a behavioral response, the likelihood of cortical activity decreased from auditory cortex to motor cortex, and was related to reduced local cortical excitability. Cortical excitability was quantified using instantaneous voltage during a short window prior to cortical activity onset. Therefore, when humans are presented with an auditory stimulus close to perceptual-level threshold, moment-by-moment fluctuations in cortical excitability determine whether cortical responses to sensory stimulation successfully connect auditory input to a resultant behavioral response.
10aAcoustic Stimulation10aAdult10aAged10aAlpha Rhythm10aAuditory Cortex10aBrain Mapping10aCortical Excitability10aElectrocorticography10aFemale10aHumans10aMale10aMiddle Aged1 aMoheimanian, Ladan1 aParaskevopoulou, Sivylla, E1 aAdamek, Markus1 aSchalk, Gerwin1 aBrunner, Peter uhttps://www.neurotechcenter.org/publications/2021/modulation-cortical-excitability-disrupts-information-transfer