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Beta band rhythms influence reaction times.

Elie RassiWy Ming LinYi ZhangJill EmmerzaalSaskia Haegens
Published in: eNeuro (2023)
Despite their involvement in many cognitive functions, beta oscillations are among the least understood brain rhythms. Reports on whether the functional role of beta is primarily inhibitory or excitatory have been contradictory. Our framework attempts to reconcile these findings and proposes that several beta rhythms co-exist at different frequencies. Beta frequency shifts and their potential influence on behavior have thus far received little attention. In this human magnetoencephalography experiment, we asked whether changes in beta power or frequency in auditory cortex and motor cortex influence behavior (reaction times) during an auditory sweep discrimination task. We found that in motor cortex, increased beta power slowed down responses, while in auditory cortex, increased beta frequency slowed down responses. We further characterized beta as transient burst events with distinct spectro-temporal profiles influencing reaction times. Finally, we found that increased motor-to-auditory beta connectivity also slowed down responses. In sum, beta power, frequency, bursting properties, cortical focus, and connectivity profile all influenced behavioral outcomes. Our results imply that the study of beta oscillations requires caution as beta dynamics are multifaceted phenomena, and that several dynamics must be taken into account to reconcile mixed findings in the literature. Significance Statement Spontaneous changes in brain rhythms can bias performance on perceptual tasks. Here we focus on human beta band rhythms (∼13-30 Hz) and find that not only their power, but also their frequency are related to reaction times. We observe different effects in sensory and motor cortices, suggesting there could be multiple dynamics by which beta rhythms influence behavior.
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