TY - JOUR T1 - Modulation in cortical excitability disrupts information transfer in perceptual-level stimulus processing. JF - Neuroimage Y1 - 2021 A1 - Moheimanian, Ladan A1 - Paraskevopoulou, Sivylla E A1 - Adamek, Markus A1 - Schalk, Gerwin A1 - Peter Brunner KW - Acoustic Stimulation KW - Adult KW - Aged KW - Alpha Rhythm KW - Auditory Cortex KW - Brain Mapping KW - Cortical Excitability KW - Electrocorticography KW - Female KW - Humans KW - Male KW - Middle Aged AB -

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.

VL - 243 ER -