Chapter 3 Activity in primary motor areas during motor learning

Motor tasks are well suited to induce readily identifiable brain states. Motor control is accompanied by activity in specialized areas with a continuous adjustment of the flow of information. In the present study we focused on interactions between hemispheres during the learning of a bimanual coordination pattern. To be able to associate neural activation with performances of the individual hands, we employed polyrhythmic movements during which the left and right fingers move at a rational frequency ratio. An increase in the stability of performance was observed in the form of a strengthened frequency locking, achieved primarily through an improved timing of the slow hand. The accompanying changes in brain states could be localized using synthetic aperture magnetometry of whole-head MEG that revealed significant changes in bilateral motor areas and cerebellum. As expected, the adapted motor output was reflected in changes in overall timing of motor areas. To further characterize the timing, we explored the role of β-oscillations, where a tighter modulation in motor areas contralateral to the adapted hand was found.