SMA beta bursts reveal distinct mechanisms of anticipatory motor control in children

To produce smooth and coordinated movements, the brain generates anticipatory postural adjustments (APA) - feedforward motor commands that counteract predicted postural disturbances before they occur. Although APA emerge early in life, their maturation extends into early adulthood, yet little is known about the underlying neural mechanisms. Using magnetoencephalography during a naturalistic bimanual load-lifting task, we investigated anticipatory postural control in children aged 7-12 years. In this task, lifting a load from the contralateral postural forearm induces upward elbow rotation, which is anticipatorily counteracted by inhibition of Biceps brachii postural activity, stabilizing for