Mechanical load modulates premovement cortical activity during voluntary upper limb movement
Abstract
Examining how scalp electroencephalography (EEG) activity changes under increasing motor demands may provide insights into how the brain prepares for movement. In this exploratory study, premovement EEG activity was examined in ten healthy male participants (n = 10) performing a unilateral bicep curl task. Cue-locked EEG signals preceding kinematically defined movement onset were analyzed using complementary event-related potential analysis (ERP), time–frequency analysis (TF), and cross-frequency coupling analyses to examine load-dependent EEG responses. As mechanical load increased, premovement EEG activity exhibited temporal, frequency-specific, and spatially distributed changes. Mixed-effects analyses indicated that the relationship between graded mechanical load and premovement EEG activity was better described by a non-linear than a linear model. These differences were pronounced at higher load levels and exhibited non-linear and frequency-specific patterns across the frontal, central, and contralateral sensorimotor scalp regions. These findings provide preliminary insights into how increasing mechanical demand is associated with frequency-specific, spatially distributed, and non-linear changes in premovement EEG activity before movement onset.
Related
- DNMT1 function in cortical PV interneurons modulates cortical network activity, mood disorder‑related behavior, and perineuronal nets
- Transient cortical activity modulates somatosensory gating during postural control
- Patellar tendon-tap intensity modulates response gain but not variability across cortical proprioceptive and stretch-reflex responses
- Learned Audiovisual Predictability Modulates Depth-Resolved Hippocampal-Cortical Functional Coupling
- Dual-site multifocal HD-tDCS modulates bilingual language control via brain activity and connectivity
BibTeX
@article{bhagat2026mechanical,
title = {{Mechanical load modulates premovement cortical activity during voluntary upper limb movement}},
author = {Vijesh Bhagat and Rohit Kumar Yadav and Sutirtha Ghosh and Suriya Prakash Muthukrishnan and Sitikantha Roy and Chelsea Dobbins and Antonio Padilha Lanari Bo},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-72508-9},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-72508-9},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Mechanical load modulates premovement cortical activity during voluntary upper limb movement
AU - Vijesh Bhagat
AU - Rohit Kumar Yadav
AU - Sutirtha Ghosh
AU - Suriya Prakash Muthukrishnan
AU - Sitikantha Roy
AU - Chelsea Dobbins
AU - Antonio Padilha Lanari Bo
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/19
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-72508-9
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-026-72508-9
AB - Examining how scalp electroencephalography (EEG) activity changes under increasing motor demands may provide insights into how the brain prepares for movement. In this exploratory study, premovement EEG activity was examined in ten healthy male participants (n = 10) performing a unilateral bicep curl task. Cue-locked EEG signals preceding kinematically defined movement onset were analyzed using complementary event-related potential analysis (ERP), time–frequency analysis (TF), and cross-frequency coupling analyses to examine load-dependent EEG responses. As mechanical load increased, premovement EEG activity exhibited temporal, frequency-specific, and spatially distributed changes. Mixed-effects analyses indicated that the relationship between graded mechanical load and premovement EEG activity was better described by a non-linear than a linear model. These differences were pronounced at higher load levels and exhibited non-linear and frequency-specific patterns across the frontal, central, and contralateral sensorimotor scalp regions. These findings provide preliminary insights into how increasing mechanical demand is associated with frequency-specific, spatially distributed, and non-linear changes in premovement EEG activity before movement onset.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -