Pre-go beta and high-frequency power did not predict reaction time in five patients with movement-responsive SEEG pairs

We tested whether beta power (13–30 Hz) in the 0.5 s before a Go cue predicted trial reaction time in a cued two-choice SEEG task. We analyzed 1,977 trials from 8 patients and 834 bipolar pairs in OpenNeuro ds004473 v1.0.1. Using an independent pipeline, we selected pairs by movement-related beta decrease without using reaction time; 5 patients had selected pairs (47 pairs total). Across those patients, pre-Go beta did not predict log reaction time (mean Fisher z = +0.021; 3/5 positive; exact two-sided sign-flip p = 0.562; Holm p = 0.562). Pre-Go 70–150 Hz power also did not predict reaction time (mean z = +0.045; p = 0.250; Holm p = 0.500). All patient-level partial correlations were between −0.09 and +0.10. The minimum attainable two-sided sign-flip p with 5 patients was 0.0625, so these tests could detect only a large, consistent effect and do not exclude a small effect. Exploratory all-pair results had mixed signs and do not support the beta status-quo hypothesis. Other limits include clinical contacts without anatomical labels, non-independent pairs on a shaft, a short 0.3–0.7 s foreperiod, and a movement window that may include the post-movement beta rebound.

SEEG · beta power · reaction time · movement-responsive pairs · permutation test · independent reproduction