Higher attention is associated with stronger sensorimotor connectivity during a target pursuit task

Attention is critical in processes related to motor learning and recovery. While neuroimaging studies have highlighted its relevance to frontal-parietal networks, it is unclear how attention affects movement-related activity from the sensorimotor regions of the brain during a motor task. In this study, participants pursued a moving target with a computer mouse, and the level of attention was manipulated via two conditions in which the target moved in either a predictable or unpredictable fashion. We compared event-related desynchronization (ERD) between rest and movement as well as coherence during movement between the predictable and unpredictable trials. We found that alpha- and beta-band ERDs in the contralateral central areas did not change significantly between the two conditions. However, unpredictable trials had larger alpha-band suppression in the frontal and parietal areas, larger beta-band suppression in the ipsilateral parietal area, and larger alpha-band functional connectivity across the central areas. Our study highlights that performing limb movements with higher levels of attention was associated with stronger cortical communication in the sensorimotor areas, rather than strengthening neural activity in these areas. However, higher levels of attention were associated with stronger activation in the frontal and parietal areas which reflects engagement in attention-related networks. This increased activation of attentional networks and stronger sensorimotor communication may facilitate the formation of neural connections that occur in motor skill training and recovery. Impact StatementHow the brains attentional networks interact with motor learning processes is still poorly understood. In our study, we found that performing motor tasks with higher levels of attention was associated with stronger frontal and parietal ERDs, and stronger bilateral communication in the central motor areas. This corroborates with prevailing theories that the prefrontal cortex, which moderates attention, induces communication within the sensorimotor areas to promote the formation of neural connections that occur with motor learning.