Beta rebound reduces subsequent movement preparation time by modulating of GABAA inhibition

Post-movement beta synchronization is an increase of beta power relative to baseline, which commonly used to represent the status quo of the motor system. However, its functional role to the subsequent voluntary motor output and potential electrophysiological significance remain largely unknown. Here, we examined the reaction time of a Go/No-Go task of index finger tapping which performed at the phases of power baseline and post-movement beta synchronization peak induced by index finger abduction movements at different speeds (ballistic/self-paced) in 13 healthy subjects. We found a correlation between the post-movement beta synchronization and reaction time that larger post-movement beta synchronization prolonged the reaction time during Go trials. To probe the electrophysiological significance of post-movement beta synchronization, we assessed intracortical inhibitory measures probably involving GABAB (long-interval intracortical inhibition) and GABAA (short-interval intracortical inhibition) receptors in beta baseline and post-movement beta synchronization peak induced by index finger abduction movements at different speeds. We found that short-interval intracortical inhibition but not long-interval intracortical inhibition increased in post-movement beta synchronization peak compared with that in the power baseline, and was negatively correlated with the change of post-movement beta synchronization peak value. These novel findings indicate that the post-movement beta synchronization is related to forward model updating, with high beta rebound predicting longer time for the preparation of subsequent movement by inhibitory neural pathways of GABAA.