scholarly journals Human primary motor cortex is both activated and stabilized during observation of other person's phasic motor actions

2014 ◽  
Vol 369 (1644) ◽  
pp. 20130171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riitta Hari ◽  
Mathieu Bourguignon ◽  
Harri Piitulainen ◽  
Eero Smeds ◽  
Xavier De Tiège ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Sensorimotor Cortex ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Healthy Adults ◽  
Motor Output ◽  
Brain Rhythms ◽  
Motor Actions ◽  
Muscle Coherence

When your favourite athlete flops over the high-jump bar, you may twist your body in front of the TV screen. Such automatic motor facilitation, ‘mirroring’ or even overt imitation is not always appropriate. Here, we show, by monitoring motor-cortex brain rhythms with magnetoencephalography (MEG) in healthy adults, that viewing intermittent hand actions of another person, in addition to activation, phasically stabilizes the viewer's primary motor cortex, with the maximum of half a second after the onset of the seen movement. Such a stabilization was evident as enhanced cortex–muscle coherence at 16–20 Hz, despite signs of almost simultaneous suppression of rolandic rhythms of approximately 7 and 15 Hz as a sign of activation of the sensorimotor cortex. These findings suggest that inhibition suppresses motor output during viewing another person's actions, thereby withholding unintentional imitation.

Effects on Muscle Activity From Microstimuli Applied to Somatosensory and Motor Cortex During Voluntary Movement in the Monkey

1997 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. 2446-2465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail L. Widener ◽  
Paul D. Cheney
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Muscle Activity ◽  
Voluntary Movement ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Large Fraction ◽  
Single Pulse ◽  
Motor Output ◽  
Emg Activity ◽  
Spike Triggered Averaging ◽  
Area 3A

Widener, Gail L. and Paul D. Cheney. Effects on muscle activity from microstimuli applied to somatosensory and motor cortex during voluntary movement in the monkey. J. Neurophysiol. 77: 2446–2465, 1997. It is well known that electrical stimulation of primary somatosensory cortex (SI) evokes movements that resemble those evoked from primary motor cortex. These findings have led to the concept that SI may possess motor capabilities paralleling those of motor cortex and speculation that SI could function as a robust relay mediating motor responses from central and peripheral inputs. The purpose of this study was to rigorously examine the motor output capabilities of SI areas with the use of the techniques of spike- and stimulus-triggered averaging of electromyographic (EMG) activity in awake monkeys. Unit recordings were obtained from primary motor cortex and SI areas 3a, 3b, 1, and 2 in three rhesus monkeys. Spike-triggered averaging was used to assess the output linkage between individual cells and motoneurons of the recorded muscles. Cells in motor cortex producing postspike facilitation (PSpF) in spike-triggered averages of rectified EMG activity were designated corticomotoneuronal (CM) cells. Motor output efficacy was also assessed by applying stimuli through the microelectrode and computing stimulus-triggered averages of rectified EMG activity. One hundred seventy-one sites in motor cortex and 68 sites in SI were characterized functionally and tested for motor output effects on muscle activity. The incidence, character, and magnitude of motor output effects from SI areas were in sharp contrast to effects from CM cell sites in primary motor cortex. Of 68 SI cells tested with spike-triggered averaging, only one area 3a cell produced significant PSpF in spike-triggered averages of EMG activity. In comparison, 20 of 171 (12%) motor cortex cells tested produced significant postspike effects. Single-pulse intracortical microstimulation produced effects at all CM cell sites in motor cortex but at only 14% of SI sites. The large fraction of SI effects that was inhibitory represented yet another marked difference between CM cell sites in motor cortex and SI sites (25% vs 93%). The fact that motor output effects from SI were frequently absent or very weak and predominantly inhibitory emphasizes the differing motor capabilities of SI compared with primary motor cortex.

scholarly journals Different contributions of primary motor cortex, reticular formation, and spinal cord to fractionated muscle activation

2018 ◽  
Vol 119 (1) ◽  
pp. 235-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boubker Zaaimi ◽  
Lauren R. Dean ◽  
Stuart N. Baker
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Reticular Formation ◽  
Upper Limb ◽  
Muscle Activation ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Cervical Spinal Cord ◽  
Motor Output ◽  
Natural Activity ◽  
Limb Muscles

Coordinated movement requires patterned activation of muscles. In this study, we examined differences in selective activation of primate upper limb muscles by cortical and subcortical regions. Five macaque monkeys were trained to perform a reach and grasp task, and electromyogram (EMG) was recorded from 10 to 24 muscles while weak single-pulse stimuli were delivered through microelectrodes inserted in the motor cortex (M1), reticular formation (RF), or cervical spinal cord (SC). Stimulus intensity was adjusted to a level just above threshold. Stimulus-evoked effects were assessed from averages of rectified EMG. M1, RF, and SC activated 1.5 ± 0.9, 1.9 ± 0.8, and 2.5 ± 1.6 muscles per site (means ± SD); only M1 and SC differed significantly. In between recording sessions, natural muscle activity in the home cage was recorded using a miniature data logger. A novel analysis assessed how well natural activity could be reconstructed by stimulus-evoked responses. This provided two measures: normalized vector length L, reflecting how closely aligned natural and stimulus-evoked activity were, and normalized residual R, measuring the fraction of natural activity not reachable using stimulus-evoked patterns. Average values for M1, RF, and SC were L = 119.1 ± 9.6, 105.9 ± 6.2, and 109.3 ± 8.4% and R = 50.3 ± 4.9, 56.4 ± 3.5, and 51.5 ± 4.8%, respectively. RF was significantly different from M1 and SC on both measurements. RF is thus able to generate an approximation to the motor output with less activation than required by M1 and SC, but M1 and SC are more precise in reaching the exact activation pattern required. Cortical, brainstem, and spinal centers likely play distinct roles, as they cooperate to generate voluntary movements. NEW & NOTEWORTHY Brainstem reticular formation, primary motor cortex, and cervical spinal cord intermediate zone can all activate primate upper limb muscles. However, brainstem output is more efficient but less precise in producing natural patterns of motor output than motor cortex or spinal cord. We suggest that gross muscle synergies from the reticular formation are sculpted and refined by motor cortex and spinal circuits to reach the finely fractionated output characteristic of dexterous primate upper limb movements.

Event-related desynchronization reflects downregulation of intracortical inhibition in human primary motor cortex

2013 ◽  
Vol 110 (5) ◽  
pp. 1158-1166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mitsuaki Takemi ◽  
Yoshihisa Masakado ◽  
Meigen Liu ◽  
Junichi Ushiba
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Motor Imagery ◽  
Sensorimotor Cortex ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Motor Evoked Potentials ◽  
Short Interval ◽  
Hand Movement ◽  
Intracortical Inhibition ◽  
Imagery Task ◽  
Event Related Desynchronization

There is increasing interest in electroencephalogram (EEG)-based brain-computer interface (BCI) as a tool for rehabilitation of upper limb motor functions in hemiplegic stroke patients. This type of BCI often exploits mu and beta oscillations in EEG recorded over the sensorimotor areas, and their event-related desynchronization (ERD) following motor imagery is believed to represent increased sensorimotor cortex excitability. However, it remains unclear whether the sensorimotor cortex excitability is actually correlated with ERD. Thus we assessed the association of ERD with primary motor cortex (M1) excitability during motor imagery of right wrist movement. M1 excitability was tested by motor evoked potentials (MEPs), short-interval intracortical inhibition (SICI), and intracortical facilitation (ICF) with transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Twenty healthy participants were recruited. The participants performed 7 s of rest followed by 5 s of motor imagery and received online visual feedback of the ERD magnitude of the contralateral hand M1 while performing the motor imagery task. TMS was applied to the right hand M1 when ERD exceeded predetermined thresholds during motor imagery. MEP amplitudes, SICI, and ICF were recorded from the agonist muscle of the imagined hand movement. Results showed that the large ERD during wrist motor imagery was associated with significantly increased MEP amplitudes and reduced SICI but no significant changes in ICF. Thus ERD magnitude during wrist motor imagery represents M1 excitability. This study provides electrophysiological evidence that a motor imagery task involving ERD may induce changes in corticospinal excitability similar to changes accompanying actual movements.

scholarly journals Maintained representations of the ipsilateral and contralateral limbs during bimanual control in primary motor cortex

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin P. Cross ◽  
Ethan A. Heming ◽  
Douglas J. Cook ◽  
Stephen H. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Contralateral Side ◽  
The Body ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Postural Perturbation ◽  
Contralateral Limb ◽  
Downstream Target ◽  
Orthogonal Representations ◽  
Motor Actions

AbstractPrimary motor cortex (M1) almost exclusively controls the contralateral side of the body. However, M1 activity is also modulated during ipsilateral body movements. Previous work has shown that M1 activity related to the ipsilateral arm is independent of the M1 activity related to the contralateral arm. How do these patterns of activity interact when both arms move simultaneously? We explored this problem by training two monkeys (male, Macaca mulatta) in a postural perturbation task while recording from M1. Loads were applied to one arm at a time (unimanual) or both arms simultaneously (bimanual). We found 83% of neurons were responsive to both the unimanual and bimanual loads. We also observed a small reduction in activity magnitude during the bimanual loads for both limbs (25%). Across the unimanual and bimanual loads, neurons largely maintained their preferred load directions. However, there was a larger change in the preferred loads for the ipsilateral limb (~25%) than the contralateral limb (~9%). Lastly, we identified the contralateral and ipsilateral subspaces during the unimanual loads and found they captured a significant amount of the variance during the bimanual loads. However, the subspace captured more of the bimanual variance related to the contralateral limb (97%) than the ipsilateral limb (66%). Our results highlight that even during bimanual motor actions, M1 largely retains its representations of the contralateral and ipsilateral limbs.Significance StatementPrevious work has shown that primary motor cortex (M1) reflects information related to the contralateral limb, its downstream target, but also reflects information related to the ipsilateral limb. Can M1 still reflect both sources of information when performing simultaneous movements of the limbs? Here we use a postural perturbation task to show that M1 activity maintains a similar representation for the contralateral limb during bimanual motor actions, while there is only a modest change in the representation of the ipsilateral limb. Our results indicate that two orthogonal representations can be maintained and expressed simultaneously in M1.

Motor Function

2017 ◽  
pp. 252-261
Author(s):  
Riitta Hari ◽  
Aina Puce
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Motor Function ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Brain Activity ◽  
Surface Emg ◽  
Eeg Signals ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Premotor Areas ◽  
Readiness Field ◽  
Muscle Coherence

Voluntary movements are preceded by slow brain activity, visible in EEG as the Bereitschaftspotential (the readiness potential), and in MEG as the readiness field. These slow shifts can begin a few seconds before movement onset in the primary motor cortex and in the premotor areas. Cortex–muscle coherence refers to coupling between MEG/EEG signals and the surface EMG of a steadily contracted muscle; it typically occurs at around 20 Hz and implies an efferent drive from the cortex to the muscle. Corticokinematic coherence can be measured as the coupling between MEG/EEG signals and the acceleration or velocity of a rhythmically moving limb; it typically occurs are the movement frequency and its first harmonic. Coherence of MEG/EEG signals can be computed also with respect to other peripheral signals, such as the fundamental frequency of the voice measured with an accerometer above the subject’s throat.

scholarly journals Influence of Alternate Hot and Cold Thermal Stimulation in Cortical Excitability in Healthy Adults: An fMRI Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Chia-Ju Chen ◽  
Jau-Hong Lin ◽  
Jui-Sheng Hsu ◽  
Chiu-Ming Shih ◽  
Jui-Jen Lai ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Stroke Rehabilitation ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Cortical Excitability ◽  
Healthy Adults ◽  
Thermal Stimulation ◽  
Cortical Activation ◽  
Thermal Testing ◽  
Cold Pain ◽  
Before And After

Stroke rehabilitation using alternate hot and cold thermal stimulation (altTS) has been reported to improve motor function in hemiplegia; however, the influence of brain excitability induced by altTS remains unclear. This study examined cortical activation induced by altTS in healthy adults, focusing on motor-related areas. This involved a repeated crossover experimental design with two temperature settings (innocuous altTS with alternate heat-pain and cold-pain thermal and noxious altTS with alternate heat and cold thermal) testing both arms (left side and right side). Thirty-one healthy, right-handed participants received four episodes of altTS on four separate days. Functional magnetic resonance imaging scans were performed both before and after each intervention to determine whether altTS intervention affects cortical excitability, while participants performed a finger-tapping task during scanning. The findings revealed greater response intensity of cortical excitability in participants who received noxious altTS in the primary motor cortex, supplementary motor cortex, and somatosensory cortex than in those who received innocuous altTS. Moreover, there was more motor-related excitability in the contra-lateral brain when heat was applied to the dominant arm, and more sensory-associated excitability in the contra-lateral brain when heat was applied to the nondominant arm. The findings highlight the effect of heat on cortical excitability and provide insights into the application of altTS in stroke rehabilitation.

Presurgical Localization of Primary Motor Cortex in Pediatric Patients with Brain Lesions by the Use of Spatially Filtered Magnetoencephalography

2009 ◽  
Vol 64 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. ONS177-ONS186 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Gaetz ◽  
Douglas Cheyne ◽  
James T. Rutka ◽  
James Drake ◽  
Mony Benifla ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Sensorimotor Cortex ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Pediatric Patients ◽  
Brain Lesion ◽  
Cortical Mapping ◽  
Left Index Finger ◽  
Brain Response ◽  
Focal Lesions ◽  
Cortical Function

Abstract Objective: The objective of this study was to confirm the efficacy of spatially filtered magnetoencephalography for the preoperative localization of primary motor cortex in pediatric patients with focal lesions in the region of the sensorimotor cortex. Methods: We recorded movement-related magnetoencephalographic activity in 10 pediatric patients (age range, 7–18 years; mean age, 12.5 years) undergoing presurgical evaluation for focal brain lesion resection. Participants made transient movements of the right and left index finger in response to a visual cue. The premovement motor field component in the averaged brain response was localized with a newly developed beamformer spatial filter algorithm. Cortical mapping of motor cortex intraoperatively was conducted in 5 of the 10 patients. Results: The motor field time-locked to electromyography onset was successfully localized to cortical areas corresponding to the hand region primary motor cortex in 95% of cases (9 of 10 from nonlesional hemisphere; 10 of 10 from lesional hemisphere). Intraoperative electrocortical stimulation activated the expected muscles at motor field coregistered cortical source locations in all cases tested (n = 5). Using these methods, we also found that displacement of the sensorimotor cortex by space-occupying tumors did not interfere with the localization of motor cortex. Conclusion: We conclude that noninvasive localization of the primary motor cortex can be reliably performed by using spatially filtered magnetoencephalography techniques, which provide a robust and accurate measurement of motor cortical function for the purpose of surgical guidance.

Methylphenidate decreases the EEG mu power in the right primary motor cortex in healthy adults during motor imagery and execution

2021 ◽  
Vol 226 (4) ◽  
pp. 1185-1193
Author(s):  
Danielle Aprigio ◽  
Juliana Bittencourt ◽  
Mariana Gongora ◽  
Victor Marinho ◽  
Silmar Teixeira ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Motor Imagery ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Healthy Adults ◽  
The Right

scholarly journals Independent representations of ipsilateral and contralateral limbs in primary motor cortex

eLife ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan A Heming ◽  
Kevin P Cross ◽  
Tomohiko Takei ◽  
Douglas J Cook ◽  
Stephen H Scott
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Contralateral Side ◽  
The Body ◽  
Motor Output ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Contralateral Limb ◽  
Mechanical Loads ◽  
Contralateral Motor

Several lines of research demonstrate that primary motor cortex (M1) is principally involved in controlling the contralateral side of the body. However, M1 activity has been correlated with both contralateral and ipsilateral limb movements. Why does ipsilaterally-related activity not cause contralateral motor output? To address this question, we trained monkeys to counter mechanical loads applied to their right and left limbs. We found >50% of M1 neurons had load-related activity for both limbs. Contralateral loads evoked changes in activity ~10ms sooner than ipsilateral loads. We also found corresponding population activities were distinct, with contralateral activity residing in a subspace that was orthogonal to the ipsilateral activity. Thus, neural responses for the contralateral limb can be extracted without interference from the activity for the ipsilateral limb, and vice versa. Our results show that M1 activity unrelated to downstream motor targets can be segregated from activity related to the downstream motor output.

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