Functional coupling of sensorimotor and associative areas during a catching ball task: a qEEG coherence study

Quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG) was recorded using a 20-channel EEG system in 20 healthy right-handed participants performed the catching ball task. We used the EEG coherence analysis to investigate subdivisions of alpha (8-12 Hz) and beta (12-30 Hz) bands, which are related to cognitive processing and sensory-motor integration.Notwithstanding, we found the main effects for the factor block; for alpha-1, coherence decreased from the first to sixth block, and the opposite effect occurred for alpha-2 and beta-2, with coherence increasing along the blocks.It was concluded that to perform successfully our task, which involved anticipatory processes (i.e. feedback mechanisms), subjects exhibited a great involvement of sensory-motor and associative areas, possibly due to organization of information to process visuospatial parameters and further catch the falling object.In a dynamic environment, the Central Nervous System (CNS) is in constant activity because it receives external sensory stimuli all the time, in order to specifically maintain an appropriate motor performance [1]. Thus, in the CNS occurs an association between the ability to communicate with the external environment and encoding information for the internal control of the movement, aiming at an appropriate task execution [2]. These factors are elementary components for the preparation and adjustment of a motor act, besides they take part in the integration among different specialized centers in the final production of the movement [3].Catching an object is a complex movement that involves not only programming but also effective motor coordination [4,5]. Such behavior is related to the activation and recruitment of cortical regions that participates in the sensorimotor integration process. Moreover, the CNS needs to capture information from the environment in order to prepare the motor act and to enhance the execution of goal-directed tasks, e.g., catching an object [3]. On the other hand, sensori