Evaluation of Motor-Related Beta-Activity in Relation to Naturalistic Movement in Healthy Adult Subjects (MOBETA)

The whole body's voluntary movements are controlled by the brain. One of the brain areas most involved in controlling these voluntary movements is the motor cortex and it is often viewed as the primary 'output' region of the neocortex. Motor cortical activity in the beta frequency range (13-30Hz) is a hallmark signature of healthy and pathological movement, but its behavioral relevance remains unclear. Such uncertainty confounds the development of treatments for diseases of movement which are associated with pathophysiological beta activity, including Parkinson's, therefore furthering understanding on the behavioral significance of activity in this range is now vital. Recently, it has become apparent that oscillatory beta activity actually occurs in discrete transient bursts, and that the summation of short-lasting, high-powered bursts of activity only appear to be sustained oscillations when averaged over multiple trials.

In this study we will use neurophysiological and neuroimaging techniques such as electroencephalography (EEG), magnetoencephalography (MEG), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). All of these techniques have been identified as non-invasive techniques. By applying these methods, we will be able to analyze beta burst activity in order to determine how beta bursts influence naturalistic motor behavior.

This project also encompasses the study of auditory and motor interactions doing an experimental task.

The aim of the project is to get a better understanding of the role of motor-related beta activity during the preparation and generation of reach and grasp actions. These findings may inform novel treatments for pathophysiological disorders characterized by aberrant beta signaling, utilizing causal manipulation of the neural circuits implicated in the generation of beta activity. This project also has expected methodological repercussions. It will make it possible to validate the use of individualized head-casts worn during MEG acquisition for the study of the cortical control of naturalistic actions, and to create new analysis tools that allow an increase in the spatial resolution of MEG data.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Primary Motor Cortex; Motor Cortex
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Reach and grasp tasks in healthy participants using MEG technique (Experiment 1); Other: Reach and grasp tasks in healthy participants using EEG technique (Experiment 2)

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 31
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• France
  • Bron, France, 69500
    • Institut des Sciences Cognitives, Marc Jeannerod, UMR 5229 CNRS

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 40 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

For all experiments :

• Healthy male or female
• Aged 18-40 years
• Registered with the French healthcare system
• Motivated to participate in the study
• Normal or corrected vision
• Right-handed
• Adequate knowledge of French to be able to follow directions
• Subjects must have the minimal motor ability necessary to participate in the experiment
• Subjects must be able to listen and understand the study instructions
• Subjects must be able to give written informed consent before participation
• Normal hearing

Exclusion Criteria:

For all experiments :

Subjects with characteristics incompatible with MEG/EEG and MRI :

• Claustrophobia
• Psychiatric pathology characterized including Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), or severe traumatic brain injury
• Neuropsychological disorders or cognitive impairment including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, seizures, epilepsy, sleep disorders
• Regular use of neurodevelopment medicines (antidepressants, neuroleptics)
• Subject has a history of skin disease or skin allergies (multiple or severe)
• Subject working with metals in their professional lives
• The subject had an MRI 2 weeks prior to experiment 1
• Implanted material (any dental apparatus containing metal including or root canals or any metallic object, pacemaker, cochlear implanted in the body)
• Pregnant women or lactating women (based on self-report)
• subjects who are not able to tolerate sitting for 1 hour (the estimated length of the experiment)
• Alcohol dependence
• Subjects who, in the opinion of the investigator are not able or willing to comply with the protocol

For experiment 1:

- A head size incompatible with the use of a personalized 3D head-cast or a magnetoencephalography

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: MEG and EEG recordings on Healthy volunteers; All subjects can participate in experiment 1 and/or 2. All analyses are intra-subject (no analyses are between-subject).; Experiment 1 will test the functional role of beta bursts in naturalistic action preparation, using a combined anatomical MEG-MRI approach which will be conducted in 2 sessions.; Experiment 2 will study the relationship between beta bursts and naturalistic action preparation using EEG.

Other: Reach and grasp tasks in healthy participants using MEG technique (Experiment 1); Human participants will perform reach and grasp movements to various objects (e.g. a cube, sphere, or rod) driven either by perceived action affordances, or instruction cues. A rotating carousel will be used to present subjects with various objects affording different types of grasps (e.g. a precision pinch, a whole hand 'power' grasp, or a tripod grasp). Prior to the experiment, subjects will be tested outside the scanner by asking them to grasp each object as they would naturally to ensure that each object elicits the expected grasp type. Subject-specific, 3D-printed head-casts will be created based on high resolution MRI scans from each subject, and worn by subjects during the MEG experiment (Experiment 1) to reduce within-session head movement associated with reaching and grasping. At the end of this session an experimental task is added: detection of tons in presence of multitonal masks, in order to verify how beta peaks might be generated by a stimulus auditory.; Other: Reach and grasp tasks in healthy participants using EEG technique (Experiment 2); Experiment 2 consists of a task of reaching for and grasping several objects (e.g. a cube, sphere, or rod) ; the task used for experiment 2 is the same as that used for experiment 1. EEG signals will be measured.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Timing of beta bursts in motor cortex, measured with MEG before initiation of a movement	Timing (ms, relative to motion onset) of beta bursts in motor cortex with MEGthan the one planned is cued and must be performed.	The data of subjects will be collected and analyzed through study completion an average of 2 years
Spatial location of beta bursts in motor cortex, measured with MEG before initiation of a movement	Spatial location (mm, in a brain-centered reference frame) of beta bursts in motor cortex, measured with MEG	The data of subjects will be collected and analyzed through study completion an average of 2 years
Timing of beta bursts in motor cortex, measured with EEG before initiation of a movement	Timing (ms, relative to motion onset) of beta bursts in motor cortex with EEG	The data of subjects will be collected and analyzed through study completion an average of 2 years
Spatial location of beta bursts in motor cortex, measured with EEG before initiation of a movement	Spatial location (mm, in a brain-centered reference frame) of beta bursts in motor cortex, measured with EEG	The data of subjects will be collected and analyzed through study completion an average of 2 years

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Spatial location of beta bursts in motor cortex, measured with MEG before initiation of a movement	Spatial location (mm, in a brain-centered reference frame) of beta bursts in motor cortex, measured with MEG	The data of subjects will be collected and analyzed through study completion an average of 2 years
Timing of beta bursts in motor cortex, measured with EEG before initiation of a movement	Timing (ms, relative to motion onset) of beta bursts in motor cortex with EEG	The data of subjects will be collected and analyzed through study completion an average of 2 years
Spatial location of beta bursts in motor cortex, measured with EEG before initiation of a movement	Spatial location (mm, in a brain-centered reference frame) of beta bursts in motor cortex, measured with EEG	The data of subjects will be collected and analyzed through study completion an average of 2 years
Timing of beta bursts in motor cortex, measured with MEG before initiation of a movement	Timing (ms, relative to motion onset) of beta bursts in motor cortex with MEG	The data of subjects will be collected and analyzed through study completion an average of 2 years
Beta amplitude, measured with MEG	Beta amplitude (fT) in motor cortex, measured with MEG	The data of subjects will be collected and analyzed through study completion an average of 2 years
Beta amplitude, measured with EEG	Beta amplitude (μV) in motor cortex, measured with EEG	The data of subjects will be collected and analyzed through study completion an average of 2 years
Determine what aspects of grasp kinematics can be decoded from beta burst activity in motor cortex and related regions.	Multivariate machine learning models which are able to predict the trajectory of arm and hand kinematics from the spatiotemporal pattern of beta bursts in motor cortex.	The data of subjects will be collected and analyzed through study completion an average of 2 years.
Within-session movement	Movement (mm) of fiducial locations of the head-cast relative to the MEG sensors	The data of subjects will be collected and analyzed through study completion an average of 2 years.
Visual stimuli	Comparison of synchronization, localization and waveform of beta peaks in the motor cortex in response ovisual stimuli.	The data of subjects will be collected and analyzed through study completion an average of 2 years.
Auditory stimuli	Comparison of synchronization, localization and waveform of beta peaks in the motor cortex in response to auditory stimuli.	The data of subjects will be collected and analyzed through study completion an average of 2 years.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Hospices Civils de Lyon
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: James BONAIUTO, Institut des Sciences Cognitives, Marc Jeannerod, UMR 5229 CNRS

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 28, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 6, 2025
• Study Completion (Actual): January 6, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 18, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 26, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): January 27, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): August 14, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 11, 2025
• Last Verified: August 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); magnetoencephalography (MEG); electroencephalography (EEG); Beta burst activity; Naturalistic motor behavior; Neuroimaging techniques; Reach and Grasp
• Other Study ID Numbers: 69HCL20_0843; 2021-A00042-39 (Other Identifier: ID-RCB)

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No
• product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.: No