Multimodal neuroimaging of fatigability development

Bedard, Patrick; Knutson, Kristine; McGurrin, Patrick; Vial Undurraga, Felipe; Popa, Traian; Horovitz, Silvina; Hallett, Mark; Nath, Avindra; Walitt, Brian

Publication:
Multimodal neuroimaging of fatigability development

dc.contributor.author	Bedard, Patrick
dc.contributor.author	Knutson, Kristine
dc.contributor.author	McGurrin, Patrick
dc.contributor.author	Vial Undurraga, Felipe
dc.contributor.author	Popa, Traian
dc.contributor.author	Horovitz, Silvina
dc.contributor.author	Hallett, Mark
dc.contributor.author	Nath, Avindra
dc.contributor.author	Walitt, Brian
dc.date.accessioned	2026-07-21T16:25:48Z
dc.date.available	2026-07-21T16:25:48Z
dc.date.issued	2025
dc.description.abstract	Fatigability refers to the inability of the neuromuscular system to generate enough force to produce movements to meet task challenges. Fatigability has a central and a peripheral component linked via the neuromuscular system, but how these two components interact as fatigue develops lacks a complete understanding. The effects of fatigability are experienced in healthy humans but also accompany various disorders, often exacerbating their symptoms. We studied how fatigability develops in the neuromuscular system using multimodal neuroimaging. We recruited healthy participants to perform a fatiguing grip force task, while recording force, electromyography of forearm muscles (EMG), electroencephalography (EEG), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 30-second blocks of grip task alternating with 30 seconds of rest. The task entailed maintaining 50% of the maximum force. We combined EMG and EEG to compute corticomuscular coherence and combined EEG and fMRI to compute EEG-informed fMRI. We selected eight task blocks specific to each participant to represent how the neuromuscular system adapted from pre-fatigability to actual fatigability. Those included five blocks for pre-fatigability in which participants could generate enough force to match the required 50% of maximum force and three blocks when the force fell below that limit. Across blocks of the grip force task, we observed changes in the neuromuscular system that preceded grip force changes. We found that electromyography of arm muscles shifted from high to low frequency, EEG in the channel covering the contralateral sensorimotor area increased steadily up to the fifth block and then plateaued, and fMRI signal also increased in the cerebellum. Corticomuscular coherence increased within each of the 30-second blocks of the grip task. EEG-informed fMRI revealed areas of the brain that the traditional regression did not, including the bilateral sensorimotor cortex, temporal-parietal junction, and supplementary motor area. Thus, as fatigability developed, the neuromuscular system experienced changes earlier than the actual behavior. While we found evidence for fatigability of central and peripheral origins, peripheral fatigue seems to occur first.
dc.description.version	Versión Publicada
dc.identifier.citation	Bedard P, Knutson KM, McGurrin PM, Vial F, Popa T, Horovitz SG, Hallett M, Nath A, Walitt B. Multimodal neuroimaging of fatigability development. Imaging Neurosci (Camb). 2025 Sep 2;3:IMAG.a.132. doi: 10.1162/IMAG.a.132.
dc.identifier.doi	https://doi.org/10.1162/IMAG.a.132
dc.identifier.uri	https://hdl.handle.net/11447/10879
dc.language.iso	en
dc.subject	EEG
dc.subject	EMG
dc.subject	fMRI
dc.subject	Fatigability
dc.subject	Corticomuscular coherence
dc.title	Multimodal neuroimaging of fatigability development
dc.type	Article
dcterms.accessRights	Acceso Abierto
dcterms.source	Imaging neuroscience
dspace.entity.type	Publication
relation.isAuthorOfPublication	179d13e5-e6ce-4f28-bcd3-69797750d322
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery	179d13e5-e6ce-4f28-bcd3-69797750d322