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The cerebral cortex, the brain's outermost layer, is pivotal in processing complex cognitive tasks, emotions, and various sensory inputs and executing voluntary motor activities. This intricate structure is divided into three primary functional areas: the motor areas, sensory areas, and association areas.
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Intracortical Inhibition Within the Primary Motor Cortex Can Be Modulated by Changing the Focus of Attention

Intracortical Inhibition Within the Primary Motor Cortex Can Be Modulated by Changing the Focus of Attention

Published on: September 11, 2017

An unavoidable modulation? Sensory attention and human primary motor cortex excitability.

Diane Ruge¹, Neil Muggleton, Damon Hoad

¹Sobell Department of Motor Neuroscience and Movement Disorders, UCL Institute of Neurology, University College London, 33 Queen Square (Box 146), London, WC1N 3BG, UK.

The European Journal of Neuroscience

|June 20, 2014

Summary

Cognitive states like attention significantly impact motor cortex excitability. Shifting attention internally or externally reduces inhibition, increasing M1 excitability, offering new insights into movement disorders.

Keywords:

attention cognition cortex human motor control

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Published on: February 23, 2020

Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Motor Control
Cognitive Psychology

Background:

The interplay between cognitive states, particularly attention, and basic physiological processes remains poorly understood.
Patients with movement disorders report significant effects of attention focus on motor symptoms, yet underlying mechanisms lack laboratory validation.
Current clinical strategies for movement disorders, like task-specific dystonia, often lack robust physiological evidence.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how the locus of attention (internal vs. external) modulates the excitability of the primary motor cortex (M1) in healthy individuals.
To explore the physiological mechanisms underlying the influence of attention on motor control.
To provide a laboratory-based understanding for cognitive strategies used in managing motor disorders.

Main Methods:

Healthy human participants were studied.
The excitability of the primary motor cortex (M1) was assessed.
Attention was manipulated by shifting its locus between an internal focus (hand) and an external focus (visual target).
Changes in stimulation-induced GABA-related inhibition and motor evoked potential (MEP) size were measured.

Main Results:

Both internal and external attention significantly altered M1 excitability.
A reduction in stimulation-induced GABA-related inhibition was observed under both attention conditions.
Motor evoked potential (MEP) size increased, indicating overall enhanced M1 excitability.
These findings were previously unreported.

Conclusions:

Cognitive states, specifically attention locus, differentially interact with primary motor cortex (M1) physiology.
The common strategy of distraction for use-dependent motor disorders may be overly simplistic and lacks current clinical support.
Attention modulation's effect on M1 physiology offers a potential explanation for electrophysiological findings in neuropsychiatric disorders, such as aberrant inhibition.