Prominence of delta oscillatory rhythms in the motor cortex and their relevance for auditory and speech perception

Benjamin Morillon (1) , Luc Arnal (2) , Charles E. Schroeder (3) , Anne Keitel (4)

1 INS - Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes
2 UNIGE - Université de Genève = University of Geneva
3 Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
4 University of Glasgow

In the motor cortex, beta oscillations (∼12-30 Hz) are generally considered a principal rhythm contributing to movement planning and execution. Beta oscillations cohabit and dynamically interact with slow delta oscillations (0.5-4 Hz), but the role of delta oscillations and the subordinate relationship between these rhythms in the perception-action loop remains unclear. Here, we review evidence that motor delta oscillations shape the dynamics of motor behaviors and sensorimotor processes, in particular during auditory perception. We describe the functional coupling between delta and beta oscillations in the motor cortex during spontaneous and planned motor acts. In an active sensing framework, perception is strongly shaped by motor activity, in particular in the delta band, which imposes temporal constraints on the sampling of sensory information. By encoding temporal contextual information, delta oscillations modulate auditory processing and impact behavioral outcomes. Finally, we consider the contribution of motor delta oscillations in the perceptual analysis of speech signals, providing a contextual temporal frame to optimize the parsing and processing of slow linguistic information.

Mots clés: Active inference; Active sensing; Audio-motor coupling; Delta; Neural oscillations; Rhythm; Speech perception

Domaines: Sciences cognitives; Neurosciences

Benjamin Morillon, Luc Arnal, Charles E. Schroeder, Anne Keitel. Prominence of delta oscillatory rhythms in the motor cortex and their relevance for auditory and speech perception. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 2019, ⟨10.1016/j.neubiorev.2019.09.012⟩. ⟨hal-02007118⟩