The neural basis of motor asymmetries such as handedness and footedness has been studied widely using both EEG and fMRI studies in humans. However, these studies almost exclusively used both unnatural tasks such as finger tapping and unnatural environments such as an fMRI scanner to identify the underlying biological correlates of motor functions. To overcome these shortcomings, our study investigated handedness and footedness in ecologically valid settings by using a mobile EEG in which participants could freely move around. We then let them perform tasks as described by the Edinburgh Handedness Inventory (EHI) and the Waterloo Footedness Questionnaire (WFQ), two of the most widespread questionnaires to assess motor asymmetries. Thus, our participants were shooting and throwing balls, balancing on rails and even jumped around while being recorded by an EEG. We found that both alpha and beta oscillations on fronto-central electrodes differed significantly between left- and right-handers as well as left- and right-footers. Furthermore, we could predict the extent of handedness and footedness using the EEG recordings during tasks performed with the left limb. All of these results were unaffected by movement indicating that mobile EEGs provide a powerful tool to study motor asymmetries in the field and can thus give meaningful insights into the neural correlates of real-life behavior.

Packheiser, J., Schmitz, J., Pan Y., El Basbasse, Y., Friedrich, P., Güntürkün, O. and Ocklenburg, S. (2020). Using Mobile EEG to Investigate Alpha and Beta Asymmetries During Hand and Foot Use. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 14 (109).