The perception of self-motion draws on inputs from the visual, vestibular and proprioceptive systems. Decades of behavioural research has shed light on constructs such as multisensory weighting, heading perception, and sensory thresholds, that are involved in self-motion perception. Despite the abundance of knowledge generated by behavioural studies, there is a clear lack of research exploring the neural processes associated with full-body, multisensory self-motion perception in humans. Much of what is known about the neural correlates of self-motion perception comes from either the animal literature, or from human neuroimaging studies only administering visual self-motion stimuli. The goal of this thesis was to bridge the gap between understanding the behavioural correlates of full-body self-motion perception, and the underlying neural processes of the human brain. We used a high-fidelity motion simulator to manipulate the interaction of the visual and vestibular systems to gain insights into cognitive processes related to self-motion perception. The present line of research demonstrated that theta, alpha and beta oscillations are the underlying electrophysiological oscillations associated with self-motion perception. Specifically, the three empirical chapters combine to contribute two main findings to our understanding of self-motion perception. First, the beta band is an index of visual-vestibular weighting. We demonstrated that beta event-related synchronization power is associated with visual weighting bias, and beta event-related desynchronization power is associated with vestibular weighting bias. Second, the theta band is associated with direction processing, regardless of whether direction information is provided through the visual or vestibular system. This research is the first of its kind and has opened the door for future research to further develop our understanding of biomarkers related to self-motion perception. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / As we move through the environment, either by walking, or operating a vehicle, our senses collect many different kinds of information that allow us to perceive factors such as, how fast we are moving, which direction we are headed in, or how other objects are moving around us. Many of our senses take in very different information, for example, the vestibular system processes information about our head movements, while our visual system processes information about incoming light waves. Despite how different all of this self-motion information can be, we still manage to have one smooth perception of our bodies moving through the environment. This smooth perception of self-motion is due to our senses sharing information with one another, which is called multisensory integration. Two of the most important senses for collecting information about self-motion are the visual and vestibular systems. To this point, very little is known about the biological processes in the brain while the visual and vestibular systems integrate information about self-motion. Understanding this process is limited because until recently, we have not had the technology or the methodology to adequately record the brain while physically moving people in a virtual environment. Our team developed a ground-breaking set of methodologies to solve this issue, and discovered key insights into brainwave patterns that take place in order for us to perceive ourselves in motion. There were two critical insights from our line of research. First, we identified a specific brainwave frequency (beta oscillations) that indexes integration between the visual and vestibular systems. Second, we demonstrated another brainwave frequency (theta oscillation) that is associated with perceiving which direction we are headed in, regardless of which sense this direction information is coming from. Our research lays the foundation for our understanding of biological processes of self-motion perception and can be applied to diagnosing vestibular disorders or improving pilot simulator training.

À ce jour, le rôle des oscillations bêta n’a pas encore été clairement établi. Des travaux récents ont montré que l’activité bêta pendant la préparation du mouvement et celle suivant son exécution sont différemment modulées par les erreurs de mouvements. L’objectif du présent travail a été double : premièrement, déterminer si les modulations de puissance bêta pré- et post-mouvement recrutent des substrats cérébraux différents, deuxièmement, mieux cerner la nature des processus neuronaux reflétés. Grâce à une approche par analyse en composantes indépendantes, nous suggérons fortement que les réponses oscillatoires, aux erreurs cinématiques, observées avant et après le mouvement sont sous-tendues par des structures distinctes, respectivement clairement latéralisées et médiales. De plus, en contrastant différentes tâches motrices, nous montrons que ni l’une ni l’autre des deux activités bêta ne reflètent des mécanismes en lien direct avec les sorties motrices. / The role of beta oscillations has not been clearly established yet. Recent work has shown that the beta activities observed during the preparation phase and after the movement are differently affected by movement errors. The aim of this thesis was twofold: first, to determine whether or not the pre- and post-movement beta power modulations recruit common neural substrates; second, to better understand the nature of the reflected neural processes. Using an independent component analysis approach, we strongly suggest that oscillatory responses to kinematic errors, observed before and after movement, are underpinned by distinct neural structures, respectively clearly lateralized and medial. Moreover, by contrasting different motor tasks, we show that neither of the two beta activities reflects mechanisms directly related to the output of the motor command.

Chez l’humain, les corrélats EEG du système de supervision de l’action ont largement été explorés dans le cadre de travaux sur la prise de décision, mettant en évidence plusieurs potentiels évoqués caractéristiques du traitement des erreurs de sélection de l'action. Typiquement, les tâches employées impliquent des réponses motrices élémentaires et l’évaluation des performances est de nature catégorielle. En contraste, l'EEG n'a que rarement été associée à des tâches motrices plus complexes, dans lesquelles les erreurs d'exécution du mouvement correspondent à des événements spatio-temporels variant en amplitude de manière continue. Pour explorer les corrélats EEG du traitement des erreurs d’exécution du mouvement nous avons enregistré l'activité cérébrale de participants engagés dans des tâches d'adaptation visuomotrice impliquant des perturbations mécaniques ou visuelles.Dans une première étude, nous avons identifié une négativité fronto-centrale sensible à la taille des erreurs cinématiques. Sa forte similitude avec la négativité liée au feedback (FRN), classiquement associée aux erreurs de prédiction de la récompense (EPR) suggère que le traitement des erreurs de prédiction sensorielles recrute des processus neuronaux communs à celui des EPR. Dans une seconde étude, nous avons exploré la sensibilité de l'activité oscillatoire β aux erreurs cinématiques. Nous avons ainsi mis en évidence deux patrons de modulation distincts. Alors que la modulation du rebond β post-mouvement serait liée à la saillance des erreurs cinématiques indépendamment de l’adaptation sensorimotrice, la modulation de la puissance β pré-mouvement semble être le reflet de mécanismes adaptatifs. / In humans, EEG correlates of performance monitoring have been extensively investigated in relation to decision-making theories. Event-related potentials correlates of error processing have been well documented using choice reaction-time tasks in which very simple motor responses are required. In these tasks, errors concern inappropriate action selection only and the evaluation of the performance is discrete (e.g. failure or success). In contrast, EEG activity has been much less examined in more complex motor tasks in which inaccurate movement-execution produces errors that vary continuously in magnitude. Our goal was to explore EEG correlates of movement-error processing and sensorimotor adaptation. In this purpose, we recorded EEG while volunteers performed reaching movements under mechanically or visually perturbed conditions. In a first study, we identified a fronto-central negativity whose amplitude was modulated by the size of movement errors. This potential presents great similarities with the Feedback Related Negativity (FRN), a potential often assumed to reflect reward-prediction errors (RPE). These findings suggest that the processing of movement-execution errors, corresponding to sensory-prediction errors, and the processing of RPE involve a shared neural network. In a second study we assessed β-power sensitivity to errors and found two clearly distinct patterns of β-band modulation. Our results suggest that the postmovement β-power may reflect error-salience processing independent of sensorimotor adaptation whereas modulations in the foreperiod may directly relate to the motor-command adjustments activated after movement-execution errors are experienced.

Les modalités sensorielles ont un rôle essentiel dans la collecte des informations en provenance de l’environnement. En olfaction, l’échantillonnage actif des odeurs se fait via le flairage chez le rat (2-10 Hz). Chez l’animal qui se comporte, le flairage est un acte très dynamique, il varie en particulier en fréquence et en débit. Le flairage peut être modulé par des facteurs liés au stimulus, comme les propriétés physico-chimiques des odeurs ou leur concentration, ou par des facteurs plus « internes » comme l’attention, les émotions ou la motivation. Plusieurs auteurs ont également suggéré l’importance de la fréquence de flairage dans la performance. Dans une première partie de ma thèse, j’ai voulu caractériser l’impact d’un apprentissage olfactif sur la mise en place d’un pattern de flairage adapté à la discrimination. Pour cela, j’ai utilisé un système d’enregistrement de la respiration non invasif chez le rat (pléthysmographe) pendant que l’animal effectue une tâche de discrimination olfactive à double choix. Dans une seconde partie, j’ai cherché les corrélats neuronaux de l’acquisition de ce pattern de flairage en enregistrant simultanément l’activité respiratoire et les signaux neuronaux (potentiels de champ locaux) dans des aires olfactives, motrices et limbiques chez l’animal en comportement. J’ai cherché à caractériser les activités oscillatoires dans la bande bêta (15-30 Hz) et thêta (2-10 Hz). J’ai enfin discuté dans quelle mesure celles-ci pouvaient être reliées à l’apprentissage et/ou aux variations de l’activité respiratoire / Sensory modalities actively take part in collecting relevant information from the environment. In olfaction, active sampling amounts to sniffing in rodents (2-10 Hz). In behaving animals, sniffing is highly dynamic, notably in frequency and flow rate. Sniffing can be modulated by parameters related to the odorant stimulus, such as the physicochemical properties of the molecule or its concentration. It can also vary depending on “internal” parameters such as attention, emotions or motivation. Several studies highlighted the importance of the sniffing frequency in performance. First, I looked at the impact of olfactory learning on the acquisition of a specific sniffing pattern. For that purpose, I monitored sniffing activity in a non-invasive way, using a whole-body plethysmograph, on rats performing a two-alternative choice odor discrimination task. Second, I looked for neuronal correlates of the acquisition of such a sniffing pattern by simultaneously recording sniffing and neuronal activities (local field potentials) in olfactory, motor and limbic areas in behaving animals. I sought to characterize oscillatory activities in beta (15-30 Hz) and theta (2-10 Hz) ranges. I finally discussed to what extent they were related to learning and/or sniffing modulations

Neurofeedback (NF) is an important treatment for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In ADHD, cognitive control deficits pose considerable problems to patients. However, NF protocols are not yet optimized to enhance cognitive control alongside with clinical symptoms, partly because they are not driven by basic cognitive neuroscience. In this study, we evaluated different EEG theta and/or beta frequency band NF protocols designed to enhance cognitive control. Participants were n = 157 children and adolescents, n = 129 of them were patients with ADHD (n = 28 typically developing (TD) controls). Patients with ADHD were divided into five groups in the order of referral, with four of them taking part in different NF protocols systematically varying theta and beta power. The fifth ADHD group and the TD group did not undergo NF. All NF protocols resulted in reductions of ADHD symptoms. Importantly, only when beta frequencies were enhanced during NF (without any theta regulation or in combination with theta upregulation), consistent enhancing effects in both response inhibition and conflict control were achieved. The theta/beta NF protocol most widely used in clinical settings revealed comparatively limited effects. Enhancements in beta band activity are key when aiming to improve cognitive control functions in ADHD. This calls for a change in the use of theta/beta NF protocols and shows that protocols differing from the current clinical standard are effective in enhancing important facets of cognitive control in ADHD. Further studies need to examine regulation data within the neurofeedback sessions to provide more information about the mechanisms underlying the observed effects.