Unilateral Left-Hand Contractions Produce Widespread Depression of Cortical Activity after Their Execution

The execution of unilateral hand contractions before performance has been reported to produce behavioral aftereffects in various tasks. These effects have been regularly attributed to an induced shift in activation asymmetry to the contralateral hemisphere produced by the contractions. An alternative explanation proposes a generalized state of reduced bilateral cortical activity following unilateral hand contractions. The current experiment contrasted the above explanation models and tested the state of cortical activity after the termination of unilateral hand contractions. Twenty right-handed participants performed hand contractions in two blocks, one for each hand. Using electroencephalogram (EEG), the broad alpha band and its asymmetry between hemispheres before, during, and after hand contractions were analyzed. During contractions, significant bilateral decrease in alpha amplitudes (indicating cortical activation) emerged for both hands around sensory-motor regions. After contractions, alpha amplitudes increased significantly over the whole scalp when compared to baseline, but only for the left hand. No modulation of hemispheric asymmetry was observed at any phase. The results suggest that unilateral hand contractions produce a state of reduced cortical activity after their termination, which is more pronounced if the left hand was used. Consequently, we propose that the reduced cortical activity (and not the persistent activation asymmetry) may facilitate engagement in subsequent behavior, probably due to preventing interference from other, nonessential cortical regions.