Brain State-Triggered Stimulus Delivery Helps to Optimize Reaction Time.

In the present study, a fast and adaptive technique for the presentation of stimuli based on ongoing brain rhythm is described. Sensorimotor cortical mu rhythm (divided by two components: alpha (mu) and beta) was used as target for assessment of prestimulus rhythm’s power influence on the consequent reaction time. The final sample consisted of 15 participants who was instructed to response immediately after change of stimuli color. As a result of the method application, a longer reaction time in the case of highly synchronized beta oscillations compared to desynchronization was achieved in the simple reaction time task. It indicates, firstly, a crucial role of baseline, prestimulus beta in motor action initiation and, secondly, the possibility to change reaction using adaptive processing and timing of presentation in real-time.