Magnetoencephalographic spectral fingerprints differentiate evidence accumulation from saccadic motor preparation in perceptual decision-making

The understanding of the neurobiological basis of perceptual decision-making has been profoundly shaped by studies in the monkey brain in tandem with mathematical models, providing the basis for the formulation of an intentional account of decision-making. Although much progress has been made in human studies, a characterization of the neural underpinnings of an integrative mechanism, where evidence accumulation and the selection and execution of responses are carried out by the same system, remains challenging. Here, by employing magnetoencephalographic recording in combination with an experimental protocol that measures saccadic response and leverages a systematic modulation of evidence levels, we obtained a spectral dissociation between evidence accumulation mechanisms and motor preparation within the same brain region. Specifically, we show that within the dorsomedial parietal cortex alpha power modulation reflects the amount of sensory evidence available while beta power modulations reflect motor preparation, putatively representing the human homolog of the saccadic-related LIP region. [Display omitted] •Continuous random dot motion paradigm offers a naturalistic view of decision-making•Parieto-occipital alpha band ERD underpins evidence accumulation predicting behavior•Parieto-occipital beta band oscillations support saccadic motor preparation•Spectral features disentangle functional roles in the intentional account model biological sciences, neuroscience, sensory neuroscience