Temporal evolution of neural activity during motor planning and motor preparation in humans

AbstractIn noisy but stationary environments, decisions should be based on the temporal integration of sequentially sampled evidence. This strategy has been supported by many behavioral studies and is qualitatively consistent with neural activity in multiple brain areas. By contrast, decision-making in the face of non-stationary sensory evidence remains poorly understood. Here, we trained monkeys to identify and respond via saccade to the dominant color of a dynamically refreshed bicolor patch that becomes informative after a variable delay. Animals’ behavioral responses were briefly suppressed after evidence changes, and many neurons in the frontal eye field displayed a corresponding dip in activity at this time, similar to that frequently observed after stimulus onset but sensitive to stimulus strength. Generalized drift-diffusion models revealed consistency of behavior and neural activity with brief suppression of motor output, but not with pausing or resetting of evidence accumulation. These results suggest that momentary arrest of motor preparation is important for dynamic perceptual decision making.

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Beta-band desynchronization reflects uncertainty in effector selection during motor planning

10.1101/2021.04.23.441147 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Milou J.L. van Helvert ◽

Leonie Oostwoud Wijdenes ◽

Linda Geerligs ◽

W. Pieter Medendorp

Keyword(s):

Time Window ◽

Brain Activity ◽

Motor Planning ◽

Reaction Times ◽

Motor Preparation ◽

Motion Artifact ◽

Theta Band ◽

Beta Band ◽

Target Uncertainty ◽

Band Power

AbstractWhile beta-band activity during motor planning is known to be modulated by uncertainty about where to act, less is known about its modulations to uncertainty about how to act. To investigate this issue, we recorded oscillatory brain activity with EEG while human participants (n = 17) performed a hand choice reaching task. The reaching hand was either predetermined or of participants’ choice, and the target was close to one of the two hands or at about equal distance from both. To measure neural activity in a motion-artifact-free time window, the location of the upcoming target was cued 1000-1500 ms before the presentation of the target, whereby the cue was valid in 50% of trials. As evidence for motor planning during the cueing phase, behavioral observations showed that the cue affected later hand choice. Furthermore, reaction times were longer in the choice than in the predetermined trials, supporting the notion of a competitive process for hand selection. Modulations of beta-band power over central cortical regions, but not alpha-band or theta-band power, were in line with these observations. During the cueing period, reaches in predetermined trials were preceded by larger decreases in beta-band power than reaches in choice trials. Cue direction did not affect reaction times or beta-band power, which may be due to the cue being invalid in 50% of trials, retaining effector uncertainty during motor planning. Our findings suggest that effector uncertainty, similar to target uncertainty, selectively modulates beta-band power during motor planning.New & NoteworthyWhile reach-related beta-band power in central cortical areas is known to modulate with the number of potential targets, here we show, using a cueing paradigm, that the power in this frequency band, but not in the alpha or theta-band, is also modulated by the uncertainty of which hand to use. This finding supports the notion that multiple possible effector-specific actions can be specified in parallel up to the level of motor preparation.

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Comparison of abstract decision encoding in the monkey prefrontal cortex, the presupplementary, and cingulate motor areas

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00686.2012 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 110 (1) ◽

pp. 19-32 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Katharina Merten ◽

Andreas Nieder

Keyword(s):

Prefrontal Cortex ◽

Cognitive Processing ◽

Planning Process ◽

Motor Planning ◽

Motor Preparation ◽

Neuron Activity ◽

Critical Element ◽

Cingulate Motor Area ◽

Monkey Prefrontal Cortex

Deciding between alternatives is a critical element of flexible behavior. Perceptual decisions have been studied extensively in an action-based framework. Recently, we have shown that abstract perceptual decisions are encoded in prefrontal cortex (PFC) neurons ( Merten and Nieder 2012 ). However, the role of other frontal cortex areas remained elusive. Here, we trained monkeys to perform a rule-based visual detection task that disentangled abstract perceptual decisions from motor preparation. We recorded the single-neuron activity in the presupplementary (preSMA) and the rostral part of the cingulate motor area (CMAr) and compared it to the results previously found in the PFC. Neurons in both areas traditionally identified with motor planning process the abstract decision independently of any motor preparatory activity by similar mechanisms as the PFC. A larger proportion of decision neurons and a higher strength of decision encoding was found in the preSMA than in the PFC. Neurons in both areas reliably predicted the monkeys' decisions. The fraction of CMAr decision neurons and their strength of the decision encoding were comparable to the PFC. Our findings highlight the role of both preSMA and CMAr in abstract cognitive processing and emphasize that both frontal areas encode decisions prior to the preparation of a motor output.

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Predicting behavior from eye movement and whisking asymmetry

10.1101/2021.02.11.430785 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Ronny Bergmann ◽

Keisuke Sehara ◽

Sina E. Dominiak ◽

Jens Kremkow ◽

Matthew E. Larkum ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Eye Movement ◽

Motor Planning ◽

Saccadic Eye Movements ◽

Motor Preparation ◽

Complex Environments ◽

Plus Maze ◽

The Face ◽

Direction Of Movement ◽

Directional Preference ◽

Correct Direction

AbstractNavigation through complex environments requires motor planning, motor preparation and the coordination between multiple sensory–motor modalities. For example, the stepping motion when we walk is coordinated with motion of the torso, arms, head and eyes. In rodents, movement of the animal through the environment is often coordinated with whisking. Here we trained head fixed mice – navigating a floating Airtrack plus maze – to overcome their directional preference and use cues indicating the direction of movement expected in each trial. Once cued, mice had to move backward out of a lane, then turn in the correct direction, and enter a new lane. In this simple paradigm, as mice begin to move backward, they position their whiskers asymmetrically: whiskers on one side of the face protract, and on the other side they retract. This asymmetry reflected the turn direction. Additionally, on each trial, mice move their eyes conjugately in the direction of the upcoming turn. Not only do they move their eyes, but saccadic eye movement is coordinated with the asymmetric positioning of the whiskers. Our analysis shows that the asymmetric positioning of the whiskers predicts the direction of turn that mice will make at an earlier stage than eye movement does. We conclude that, when mice move or plan to move in complex real-world environments, their motor plan and behavioral state can be read out in the movement of both their whiskers and eyes.Significance statementNatural behavior occurs in multiple sensory and motor dimensions. When we move through our environment we coordinate the movement of our body, head, eyes and limbs. Here we show that when mice navigate a maze, they move their whiskers and eyes; they position their whiskers asymmetrically, and use saccadic eye movements. The position of the eyes and whiskers predicts the direction mice will turn in. This work suggests that when mice move through their environment, they coordinate the visual-motor and somatosensory-motor systems.

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Unilateral movement preparation causes task-specific modulation of TMS responses in the passive, opposite limb

10.1101/304410 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Lilian Chye ◽

Stephan Riek ◽

Aymar de Rugy ◽

Richard G. Carson ◽

Timothy J. Carroll

Keyword(s):

Motor Cortex ◽

Motor Evoked Potentials ◽

Motor Planning ◽

Motor Preparation ◽

Progressive Increase ◽

The Body ◽

Movement Preparation ◽

Antagonist Muscles ◽

Force Direction ◽

Opposite Limb

AbstractCorticospinal excitability is modulated for muscles on both sides of the body during unilateral movement preparation. For the effector, there is a progressive increase in excitability, and a shift in direction of muscle twitches evoked by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) toward the impending movement. By contrast, the directional characteristics of excitability changes in the opposite (passive) limb have not been fully characterized. Here we assessed how preparation of voluntary forces towards four spatially distinct visual targets with the left wrist alters muscle twitches and motor evoked potentials (MEPs) elicited by TMS of left motor cortex. MEPs were facilitated significantly more in muscles homologous to agonist rather than antagonist muscles in the active limb, from 120 ms prior to voluntary EMG onset. Thus, unilateral motor preparation has a directionally-specific influence on pathways projecting to the opposite limb that corresponds to the active muscles rather than the direction of movement in space. The directions of TMS-evoked twitches also deviated toward the impending force direction of the active limb, according to muscle-based coordinates, following the onset of voluntary EMG. The data indicate that preparation of a unilateral movement increases task-dependent excitability in ipsilateral motor cortex, or its downstream projections, that reflect the forces applied by the active limb in an intrinsic (body-centered), rather than an extrinsic (world-centered), coordinate system. The results suggest that ipsilateral motor cortical activity prior to unilateral action reflects the state of the active limb, rather than subliminal motor planning for the passive limb.

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Motor planning modulates neural activity patterns in early human auditory cortex

10.1101/682609 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Daniel J. Gale ◽

Corson N. Areshenkoff ◽

Claire Honda ◽

Ingrid S. Johnsrude ◽

J. Randall Flanagan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Auditory Cortex ◽

Neural Activity ◽

Motor System ◽

Activity Patterns ◽

Motor Planning ◽

Sensory Information ◽

Action Planning ◽

Movement Planning ◽

Specific Information ◽

Related Information

AbstractIt is well established that movement planning recruits motor-related cortical brain areas in preparation for the forthcoming action. Given that an integral component to the control of action is the processing of sensory information throughout movement, we predicted that movement planning might also modulate early sensory cortical areas, readying them for sensory processing during the unfolding action. To test this hypothesis, we performed two human functional MRI studies involving separate delayed movement tasks and focused on pre-movement neural activity in early auditory cortex, given its direct connections to the motor system and evidence that it is modulated by motor cortex during movement in rodents. We show that effector-specific information (i.e., movements of the left vs. right hand in Experiment 1, and movements of the hand vs. eye in Experiment 2) can be decoded, well before movement, from neural activity in early auditory cortex. We find that this motor-related information is represented in a separate subregion of auditory cortex than sensory-related information and is present even when movements are cued visually instead of auditorily. These findings suggest that action planning, in addition to preparing the motor system for movement, involves selectively modulating primary sensory areas based on the intended action.

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Temporal Evolution and Strength of Neural Activity in Parietal Cortex during Eye and Hand Movements

Cerebral Cortex ◽

10.1093/cercor/bhl046 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 17 (6) ◽

pp. 1350-1363 ◽

Cited By ~ 24

Author(s):

Alexandra Battaglia-Mayer ◽

Massimo Mascaro ◽

Roberto Caminiti

Keyword(s):

Parietal Cortex ◽

Neural Activity ◽

Temporal Evolution ◽

Hand Movements

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Neural activity underlying the detection of an object movement by an observer during forward self-motion: Dynamic decoding and temporal evolution of directional cortical connectivity

Progress in Neurobiology ◽

10.1016/j.pneurobio.2020.101824 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 195 ◽

pp. 101824

Author(s):

N. Kozhemiako ◽

A.S. Nunes ◽

A. Samal ◽

K.D. Rana ◽

F.J. Calabro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neural Activity ◽

Temporal Evolution ◽

Cortical Connectivity ◽

Object Movement ◽

Self Motion

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Beyond Writing: The Development of Literacy in the Ancient Near East

10.31235/osf.io/yzsv2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Karenleigh A. Overmann

Keyword(s):

Object Recognition ◽

Neural Activity ◽

Near East ◽

Motor Planning ◽

State Level ◽

Cognitive Change ◽

Ancient Near East ◽

Writing System ◽

Material Engagement Theory ◽

Engagement Theory

Previous discussions of the origins of writing in the Ancient Near East have not incorporated the neuroscience of literacy, which suggests that when southern Mesopotamians wrote marks on clay in the late-fourth millennium, they inadvertently reorganized their neural activity, a factor in manipulating the writing system to reflect language, yielding literacy through a combination of neurofunctional change and increased script fidelity to language. Such a development appears to take place only with a sufficient demand for writing and reading, such as that posed by a state-level bureaucracy; the use of a material with suitable characteristics; and the production of marks that are conventionalized, handwritten, simple, and non-numerical. From the perspective of Material Engagement Theory, writing and reading represent the interactivity of bodies, materiality, and brains: movements of hands, arms, and eyes; clay and the implements used to mark it and form characters; and vision, motor planning, object recognition, and language. Literacy is a cognitive change that emerges from and depends upon the nexus of interactivity of the components.

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Residual errors in visuomotor adaptation persist despite extended motor preparation periods

10.1101/2021.06.28.450124 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Matthew Weightman ◽

John-Stuart Brittain ◽

R.Chris Miall ◽

Ned Jenkinson

Keyword(s):

Motor Planning ◽

Motor Preparation ◽

Visuomotor Adaptation ◽

Limiting Factors ◽

Visuomotor Rotation ◽

Preparation Time ◽

Consistent Finding ◽

Complete Adaptation ◽

Preparation Period ◽

Residual Errors

A consistent finding in sensorimotor adaptation is a persistent undershoot of full compensation, such that performance asymptotes with residual errors greater than seen at baseline. This behaviour has been attributed to limiting factors within the implicit adaptation system, which reaches a sub-optimal equilibrium between trial-by-trial learning and forgetting. However, recent research has suggested that allowing longer motor planning periods prior to movement eliminates these residual errors. The additional planning time allows required cognitive processes to be completed before movement onset, thus increasing accuracy. Here we looked to extend these findings by investigating the relationship between increased motor preparation time and the size of imposed visuomotor rotation (30°, 45° or 60°), with regards to the final asymptotic level of adaptation. We found that restricting preparation time to 0.35 seconds impaired adaptation for moderate and larger rotations, resulting in larger residual errors compared to groups with additional preparation time. However, we found that even extended preparation time failed to eliminate persistent errors, regardless of magnitude of cursor rotation. Thus, the asymptote of adaptation was significantly less than the degree of imposed rotation, for all experimental groups. Additionally, there was a positive relationship between asymptotic error and implicit retention. These data suggest that a prolonged motor preparation period is insufficient to reliably achieve complete adaptation and therefore our results provide support for the proposal that the balance between error-based learning and forgetting (i.e., incomplete retention) contributes to asymptotic adaptation levels.

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