Can rhythmic signals originating from inside of our body, such as those coming from the heart, lungs, and stomach, influence our motor system?

In our latest paper, now out in PLOS Biology, we investigated this question by evoking motor potentials and modelling whether the phase of the visceral rhythms at the time of a TMS pulse, could explain the moment to moment changes in the amplitude of these potentials. What we found was that indeed, visceral rhythms have an impact on corticospinal excitability, but furthermore, that the effects of the different organ systems can have independent effects from one another. 

Although the exact mechanisms behind this visceral influence on the motor system remain unknown, this suggests multiple pathways are at play. This challenges the notion of one cohesive interoceptive system, with an all or none response across the various organs.

You can now read the paper here: https://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbio.3003478

Big thanks to my co-authors Catherine Tallon-Baudry, Teresa Schuhmann and Alexander Sack for making this work possible!