Journal article 1586 views
Individual Differences in Subconscious Motor Control Predicted by GABA Concentration in SMA
Current Biology, Volume: 20, Issue: 19, Pages: 1779 - 1785
Swansea University Author:
Frederic Boy
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DOI (Published version): 10.1016/j.cub.2010.09.003
Abstract
Subliminal visual stimuli affect motor planning [1], but the size of such effects differs greatly between individuals [2, 3]. Here, we investigated whether such variation may be related to neurochemical differences between people. Cortical responsiveness is expected to be lower under the influence o...
Published in: | Current Biology |
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ISSN: | 0960-9822 |
Published: |
2010
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Online Access: |
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URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa13373 |
Abstract: |
Subliminal visual stimuli affect motor planning [1], but the size of such effects differs greatly between individuals [2, 3]. Here, we investigated whether such variation may be related to neurochemical differences between people. Cortical responsiveness is expected to be lower under the influence of more of the main inhibitory neurotransmitter, GABA [4]. Thus, we hypothesized that, if an individual has more GABA in the supplementary motor area (SMA)—a region previously associated with automatic motor control [5]—this would result in smaller subliminal effects. We measured the reversed masked prime—or negative compat- ibility—effect, and found that it correlated strongly with GABA concentration, measured with magnetic resonance spectroscopy. This occurred specifically in the SMA region, and not in other regions from which spectroscopy measure- ments were taken. We replicated these results in an inde- pendent cohort: more GABA in the SMA region is reliably associated with smaller effect size. These findings suggest that, across individuals, the responsiveness of subcon- scious motor mechanisms is related to GABA concentration in the SMA. |
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Keywords: |
GABA, Supplementary Motor Area, Individual differences |
College: |
Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences |
Issue: |
19 |
Start Page: |
1779 |
End Page: |
1785 |