Abstract
ABSTRACT
The neural basis of recently learned stimulus–response associations involves interactions between premotor, supplementary motor, sensorimotor, and striatal regions, but the causal contribution of premotor cortex to their posttraining expression remains unclear. Thirty‐five right‐handed volunteers learned six stimulus–response–outcome mappings in a single experimental session. Continuous theta‐burst stimulation (cTBS) was then delivered over a right dorsal premotor target or a vertex active‐control site before participants completed outcome‐devaluation, slips‐of‐action, and baseline tests. The primary behavioral analyses showed no detectable group differences in reaction time or response accuracy during the outcome‐devaluation or slips‐of‐action tests. Baseline performance was also comparable between groups, providing no evidence that stimulation affected retention of the recently learned mappings. Under the present limited‐training protocol, posttraining cTBS over the right dorsal premotor target did not produce detectable behavioral differences relative to vertex cTBS. However, given the modest between‐subject sample, the variability of devaluation‐based measures, and the possibility that vertex stimulation affected adjacent medial motor regions, smaller or shared stimulation effects cannot be excluded.