Peculiarities of brain processes during the stop and switch of motor programs among women

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to establish differences in the cortical electrical activity among women under conditions of complete inhibition of a running motor program of manual movement (Stop-Signal paradigm) and under conditions of its inhibition, with subsequent switching to an alternative motor task (Stop-Change paradigm). We used the “event-related desynchronization/synchronization” (ERD/ERS) method. Indicators ERD and ERS were evaluated in the frequency range of EEG (1-35 Hz) in the frontal, central, and parietal leads. It was established that women demonstrated greater precision in conducting the task in the set with the Stop-Change paradigm than men. In both sets of the experiment, the predominance of ERS events in the range of α- and partially β1-activity of EEG is distinguished as a common regularity. Meanwhile, in different sets of the experiment, cortical electrical activity acquired certain specific features of the frequency-spatial organization that could indicate different brain processes during the response to Stop and Stop-Change stimuli. In the set of the use of the Stop-Change paradigm, a higher level of activation processes in the frontal, central, and parietal cortex areas in the EEG α- and β-activity range is generally showed among women.