MRC Brain Network Dynamics Unit at the University of Oxford, United Kingdom Oxford OX1 3TH.
Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, United Kingdom, Oxford OX3 9DU.
J Neurosci. 2020 May 13;40(20):4021-4032. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0208-20.2020. Epub 2020 Apr 13.
Abnormally increased β bursts in cortical-basal ganglia-thalamic circuits are associated with rigidity and bradykinesia in patients with Parkinson's disease. Increased β bursts detected in the motor cortex have also been associated with longer reaction times (RTs) in healthy participants. Here we further hypothesize that suppressing β bursts through neurofeedback training can improve motor performance in healthy subjects. We conducted a double-blind sham-controlled study on 20 human volunteers (10 females) using a sequential neurofeedback-behavior task with the neurofeedback reflecting the occurrence of β bursts over sensorimotor cortex quantified in real time. The results show that neurofeedback training helps healthy participants learn to volitionally suppress β bursts in the sensorimotor cortex, with training being accompanied by reduced RT in subsequent cued movements. These changes were only significant in the real feedback group but not in the sham group, confirming the effect of neurofeedback training over simple motor imagery. In addition, RTs correlated with the rate and accumulated duration of β bursts in the contralateral motor cortex before the go-cue, but not with averaged β power. The reduced RTs induced by neurofeedback training positively correlated with reduced β bursts across all tested hemispheres. These results strengthen the link between the occurrence of β bursts in the sensorimotor cortex before the go-cue and slowed movement initiation in healthy motor control. The results also highlight the potential benefit of neurofeedback training in facilitating voluntary suppression of β bursts to speed up movement initiation. This double-blind sham-controlled study suggested that neurofeedback training can facilitate volitional suppression of β bursts in sensorimotor cortex in healthy motor control better than sham feedback. The training was accompanied by reduced reaction time (RT) in subsequent cued movements, and the reduced RT positively correlated with the level of reduction in cortical β bursts before the go-cue, but not with average β power. These results provide further evidence of a causal link between sensorimotor β bursts and movement initiation and suggest that neurofeedback training could potentially be used to train participants to speed up movement initiation.
皮质基底节丘脑回路中异常增加的β爆发与帕金森病患者的僵硬和运动迟缓有关。在健康参与者中，检测到运动皮层中的β爆发也与更长的反应时间 (RT) 有关。在这里，我们进一步假设通过神经反馈训练抑制 β 爆发可以改善健康受试者的运动表现。我们对 20 名人类志愿者（10 名女性）进行了一项双盲假对照研究，使用具有神经反馈的顺序神经反馈-行为任务，该反馈实时反映传感器运动皮层中 β 爆发的发生，该反馈实时反映传感器运动皮层中 β 爆发的发生。结果表明，神经反馈训练有助于健康参与者学会自愿抑制传感器运动皮层中的 β 爆发，并且在随后的提示运动中 RT 降低。这些变化仅在真实反馈组中显著，而在假反馈组中不显著，证实了神经反馈训练对简单运动想象的作用。此外，RT 与 Go 提示前对侧运动皮层中 β 爆发的速率和累积持续时间相关，但与平均 β 功率无关。神经反馈训练引起的 RT 降低与所有测试半球的 β 爆发减少呈正相关。这些结果加强了 Go 提示前传感器运动皮层中 β 爆发的发生与健康运动控制中运动起始速度减慢之间的联系。结果还突出了神经反馈训练在促进自愿抑制 β 爆发以加速运动起始方面的潜在益处。这项双盲假对照研究表明，神经反馈训练在健康运动控制中比假反馈更能促进传感器运动皮层中 β 爆发的自愿抑制。训练伴随着随后提示运动中 RT 的降低，并且降低的 RT 与 Go 提示前皮质 β 爆发的降低水平呈正相关，但与平均 β 功率无关。这些结果提供了传感器运动 β 爆发与运动起始之间因果关系的进一步证据，并表明神经反馈训练可能可用于训练参与者以加快运动起始。
