Scalp EEG detects motor sequence replay signatures during wakeful rest

Ordered motor-sequence neural states re-emerged in forward replay order during wakeful rest, detectable from scalp EEG across targeted-memory reactivation conditions.

• Why it matters: Human motor replay has been shown mainly with invasive recordings or magnetoencephalography, limiting scalable study of how wakeful rest supports motor-memory processing.
• What they did: During motor skill learning, participants underwent wakeful rest with no cue, regular or accelerated auditory targeted-memory reactivation (TMR), or randomized tones, while scalp EEG was decoded for sequence-order replay.
• The result: Accelerated TMR enhanced total learning, and within that condition stronger forward replay related to micro-offline gains; replay timescale depended on decoder temporal resolution, supporting scalp EEG for studying ordered reactivation.