Does conscious intention to perform a motor act depend on slow cardiovascular rhythms?

Slow oscillations around 0.1 Hz are characteristic features of both the cardiovascular and central nervous systems. Such oscillation have been reported, e.g. in blood pressure, heart rate, EEG and brain oxygenation. Hence, conscious intention of a motor act may occur only as a result of brain activi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Neuroscience letters 2010, Vol.468 (1), p.46-50
Main Authors: Pfurtscheller, Gert, Ortner, Rupert, Bauernfeind, Günther, Linortner, Patricia, Neuper, Christa
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Baroreflex
Baroreflex loop
Blood Pressure - physiology
Consciousness
Female
Fingers - physiology
Heart rate
Heart Rate - physiology
Humans
Male
Movement
Oxyhemoglobins - metabolism
Periodicity
Prefrontal Cortex - metabolism
Respiration
Self-paced movements
Slow blood pressure oscillations
Young Adult
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Summary:Slow oscillations around 0.1 Hz are characteristic features of both the cardiovascular and central nervous systems. Such oscillation have been reported, e.g. in blood pressure, heart rate, EEG and brain oxygenation. Hence, conscious intention of a motor act may occur only as a result of brain activity changes in frontal and related brain areas, or might be entrained by slow oscillations in the blood pressure. Twenty-six subjects were asked to perform voluntary, self-paced (at free will) brisk finger movements. Some subjects performed self-paced movements in relatively periodic intervals of around 10 s at the decreasing slope of the slow 0.1-Hz blood pressure oscillation. Our study reveals the first time that self-paced movements, at least in some subjects, do not stem from “free will” based on brain activity alone, but are influenced by slow blood pressure oscillations.
ISSN:0304-3940
1872-7972
DOI:10.1016/j.neulet.2009.10.060