Elsevier

NeuroImage

Volume 224, 1 January 2021, 117376
NeuroImage

Non-rhythmic temporal prediction involves phase resets of low-frequency delta oscillations

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117376Get rights and content
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Abstract

The phase of neural oscillatory signals aligns to the predicted onset of upcoming stimulation. Whether such phase alignments represent phase resets of underlying neural oscillations or just rhythmically evoked activity, and whether they can be observed in a rhythm-free visual context, however, remains unclear. Here, we recorded the magnetoencephalogram while participants were engaged in a temporal prediction task, judging the visual or tactile reappearance of a uniformly moving stimulus. The prediction conditions were contrasted with a control condition to dissociate phase adjustments of neural oscillations from stimulus-driven activity. We observed stronger delta band inter-trial phase consistency (ITPC) in a network of sensory, parietal and frontal brain areas, but no power increase reflecting stimulus-driven or prediction-related evoked activity. Delta ITPC further correlated with prediction performance in the cerebellum and visual cortex. Our results provide evidence that phase alignments of low-frequency neural oscillations underlie temporal predictions in a non-rhythmic visual and crossmodal context.

Keywords

Crossmodal temporal prediction
Neural oscillations
Beta band
Inter-trial phase coherence
Contingent negative variation
Magnetoencephalography
Delta band

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