Modulation in cortical excitability disrupts information transfer in perceptual-level stimulus processing

• Published in: NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Vol. 243; p. 118498
• Main Authors: Moheimanian, Ladan, Paraskevopoulou, Sivylla E., Adamek, Markus, Schalk, Gerwin, Brunner, Peter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.11.2021; Elsevier Limited; Elsevier
• Subjects: Acoustic Stimulation; Adult; Aged; Alpha oscillations; Alpha Rhythm - physiology; Auditory Cortex - physiology; Auditory stimuli; Brain Mapping - methods; Broadband gamma activity; Convulsions & seizures; Cortex (auditory); Cortex (motor); Cortex (somatosensory); Cortical Excitability - physiology; Electrocorticography (ECoG); Electrocorticography - methods; Electrodes; Excitability; Female; Hearing; Human subjects; Humans; Hypotheses; Information processing; Instantaneous voltage; Male; Middle Aged; Perception threshold; Population; Stimulus detection; Electrocorticography (ECoG); Instantaneous voltage; Stimulus detection; Broadband gamma activity; Alpha oscillations; Perception threshold
• ISSN: 1053-8119; 1095-9572; 1095-9572
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118498

•Cortical information traverses from auditory to motor cortex.•Perception-level stimuli evoke a small and slower cortical response.•Transmission of cortical information is disrupted for missed perception-level stimuli.•Cortical disruption is related to insufficient cortical excitability. [Display omitted] Despite significant interest in the neural underpinnings of behavioral variability, little light has been shed on the cortical mechanism underlying the failure to respond to perceptual-level stimuli. We hypothesized that cortical activity resulting from perceptual-level stimuli is sensitive to the moment-to-moment fluctuations in cortical excitability, and thus may not suffice to produce a behavioral response. We tested this hypothesis using electrocorticographic recordings to follow the propagation of cortical activity in six human subjects that responded to perceptual-level auditory stimuli. Here we show that for presentations that did not result in a behavioral response, the likelihood of cortical activity decreased from auditory cortex to motor cortex, and was related to reduced local cortical excitability. Cortical excitability was quantified using instantaneous voltage during a short window prior to cortical activity onset. Therefore, when humans are presented with an auditory stimulus close to perceptual-level threshold, moment-by-moment fluctuations in cortical excitability determine whether cortical responses to sensory stimulation successfully connect auditory input to a resultant behavioral response.