Bimanual coupling is modulated in task-specific way through left
frontocentral brain networks
Abstract
When performing bimanual tasks, hands are typically not controlled
individually but rather as a coupled system to achieve high
spatiotemporal coordination. On a brain level, intra- and
interhemispheric connections networks that control the left and right
hand are necessary to exchange information between hemispheres and to
couple movements. Behaviorally, coupling is, however, highly
task-specific requiring, for example, to maintain a specific relative
phase in cyclic tasks (e.g., in- or antiphase) or to perform a role
differentiated task where one hand is modulating and the other hands is
stabilizing and needs to be kept as still as possible (e.g., holding a
notepad and writing on it). In this study, we used
electroencephalography to investigate functional brain network
characteristics (task-related activation and connectivity) in bimanual
force-control tasks with different coordination modes: inphase,
antiphase and role-differentiated with the left- or right-hand
stabilizing and the other hand manipulating. We aimed to examine i) how
network characteristics differ with respect to the coordination mode and
ii) how they are related to the performance. Results showed,
task-related differences in the overall activation and connectivity, but
no task-specific patterns (i.e., different regions being more active or
integrated during some tasks than others). We did show, however, that
the strength of bimanual coupling is modulated in a task-specific way
through networks including C3, FC3 and F3 electrodes. Results suggest
that interhemispheric crosstalk for bimanual coordination is modulated
in a task-specific way through left frontocentral networks.