Neurophysiology of embedded response plans: age effects in action execution but not in feature integration from preadolescence to adulthood

Abstract

Performing a goal-directed movement consists of a chain of complex preparatory mechanisms. Such planning requires especially integration (or binding) of various action features, a process that has been conceptualized in the "Theory of Event Coding". Theoretical considerations and empirical research suggest that these processes are subject to developmental effects from adolescence to adulthood. The aim of the current study is to investigate age-related modulations in action feature binding processes and to shed light on underlying neurophysiological development from pre-adolescence to early adulthood. We examined a group of healthy participants (n = 61) between 10 and 30 years of age, who performed a task which requires a series of bimanual response selections in an embedded paradigm. For an in-depth analysis of the underlying neural correlates, we applied EEG signal decomposition together with source localization analyses. Behavioural results across the whole group did not show binding effects in reaction times but in intra-individual response variability. From age ten to thirty, there was a decrease in reaction times and reaction time variability, but no age-related effect in action file binding. The latter were corroborated by Bayesian data analyses. On the brain level, the developmental effects on response selection were associated with activation modulations in the superior parietal cortex (BA7). The results show that mechanisms of action execution and speed, but not those of action feature binding, are subject to age-related changes between the age of 10 and 30 years.

Perception-action integration in young age—A cross-sectional EEG study

“…Therefore, the functional interpretation of the sLORETA findings needs to be cautious. However, recent data on developmental effects in binding processes within the motor domain ( Dilcher et al, 2021 ) in the same age range was also associated with the superior parietal cortex (BA7). Therefore, it seems that processes subserving ‘binding’ in various contexts is a function of superior parietal cortices.…”

Perception‐action integration during inhibitory control is reflected in a concomitant multi‐region processing of specific codes in the neurophysiological signal

“…Although many studies have delineated a number of aspects of the long‐enigmatic neurophysiological basis of event file coding central to goal‐directed behavior and perception‐action integration (Dilcher et al, 2021; Keizer et al, 2010; Kikumoto & Mayr, 2020; Kühn et al, 2011; Pastötter et al, 2021; Petruo et al, 2016; Takacs et al, 2021; Takacs, Mückschel, et al, 2020; Takacs, Zink, et al, 2020), research has nevertheless been quite agnostic to possible network‐like or functional neuroanatomical patterns of event file coding. This reflects the general problem that overarching cognitive theories have often insufficiently been informed by neuroscientific research – and vice versa (Beste, 2021).…”

“…Especially inferior and superior parietal regions were found to be relevant for stimulus–response translation processes and integrate perception and action by binding sensory and motor information (Geng & Vossel, 2013; Gottlieb, 2007; Gottlieb & Snyder, 2010). These regions are also assumed to contribute to the selection of motor responses (Cisek & Kalaska, 2005; Dilcher et al, 2021; Sulpizio et al, 2017). Considering above findings it is possible that neurophysiological signals reflecting perception‐action integration occur mainly in (superior) parietal regions and are modulated by demands on event file‐coding processes.…”

Fronto-parietal homotopy in resting-state functional connectivity predicts task-switching performance

“…Although a direct comparison between this previous study and ours is hampered by the fact that our results concerned the mixing costs, whereas their focus was on the switching cost, it is interesting to note that both studies point toward a role of motor remapping processes during task switching performance. Of note, it should also be considered that response processes related to parietal activations have been shown to be modulated by age which, as introduced earlier, is critical in shaping homotopic connectivity (Dilcher et al 2021 ). Indeed, intrinsic connectivity undergoes more maturational changes over the lifespan in multimodal associative parietal areas, such as the precuneus, than in other brain areas, such as in the default mode network (Yang et al 2014 ; Gilmore et al 2015 ).…”