Premovement Suppression of Corticospinal Excitability Is Modulated by Reaction Time Task Requirements.

Overview

1. School of Human Kinetics University of Ottawa Ottawa Ontario Canada

Abstract

The amplitude of motor‐evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) has been shown to decrease in the foreperiod interval prior to response initiation. This premovement MEP suppression has been attributed to various processes such as preparation‐related inhibition preventing the premature release of planned action or increasing signal‐to‐noise ratio to facilitate rapid response initiation. The present study explored whether the decrease in MEP amplitude is affected by task requirements, using reaction time (RT) paradigms that differ in the timeline of motor preparation and initiation. Participants completed simple RT (SRT), choice RT (CRT), and go/no‐go (GNG) tasks, and TMS was applied at various times in the foreperiod. It was hypothesized that if MEP suppression relates to preparation level, the greatest suppression would be observed during the SRT and GNG tasks, as these paradigms encourage advance preparation and response inhibition. Conversely, if the reduction in corticospinal excitability is associated with facilitating response initiation processes, then suppression would be expected for all tasks, including the CRT paradigm in which preparation does not occur until presentation of the go‐signal. Results showed MEP amplitudes decreased for all tasks as the go‐signal approached; however, both the SRT and GNG had significantly greater MEP suppression 50 ms prior to, and coincident with the go‐signal. These results indicate that the nature and origin of the suppression is likely multifactorial and relates to both preparatory and initiation‐related processes, with the timeline and magnitude of suppression dependent on the nature of the task being executed.

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Data

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Data Availability Statement

Summary data and code supporting the findings presented here are available at the following doi: 10.7910/DVN/QN0N2G (https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/QN0N2G) (Harvard Dataverse; https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/QN0N2G).

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Version 3, 28 September 2026

• Publisher: — → Wiley

Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 4 authors, 6 keywords, 11 MeSH terms, 1 funder, 36 references.

Cite

This paper

Carlsen, A. N., Santangelo, C. M., Sadler, C. M., & Maslovat, D. (2026). Premovement Suppression of Corticospinal Excitability Is Modulated by Reaction Time Task Requirements. The European journal of neuroscience, 64(4), e70659. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejn.70659

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