Explaining Patterns of Neural Activity in the Primary Motor Cortex Using Spinal Cord and Limb Biomechanics Models

2007 ◽  
Vol 97 (5) ◽  
pp. 3736-3750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ehud Trainin ◽  
Ron Meir ◽  
Amir Karniel
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Single Neuron ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Causal Explanation ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
Specific Pattern ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Joint Torques ◽  
Tuning Curves

What determines the specific pattern of activation of primary motor cortex (M1) neurons in the context of a given motor task? We present a systems level physiological model describing the transformation from the neural activity in M1, through the muscle control signal, into joint torques and down to endpoint forces and movements. The redundancy of the system is resolved by biologically plausible optimization criteria. The model explains neural activity at both the population, and single neuron, levels. Due to the model's relative simplicity and analytic tractability, it provides intuition as to the most salient features of the system as well as a possible causal explanation of how these determine the overall behavior. Moreover, it explains a large number of recent observations, including the temporal patterns of single-neuron and population firing rates during isometric and movement tasks, narrow tuning curves, non cosine tuning curves, changes of preferred directions during a task, and changes of preferred directions due to different experimental conditions.

scholarly journals Movement representation in the primary motor cortex and its contribution to generalizable EMG predictions

2013 ◽  
Vol 109 (3) ◽  
pp. 666-678 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily R. Oby ◽  
Christian Ethier ◽  
Lee E. Miller
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Single Neuron ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Point Force ◽  
Tuning Curves ◽  
Central Target ◽  
Hold Period ◽  
End Point ◽  
Movement Representation ◽  
Limb Posture

It is well known that discharge of neurons in the primary motor cortex (M1) depends on end-point force and limb posture. However, the details of these relations remain unresolved. With the development of brain-machine interfaces (BMIs), these issues have taken on practical as well as theoretical importance. We examined how the M1 encodes movement by comparing single-neuron and electromyographic (EMG) preferred directions (PDs) and by predicting force and EMGs from multiple neurons recorded during an isometric wrist task. Monkeys moved a cursor from a central target to one of eight peripheral targets by exerting force about the wrist while the forearm was held in one of two postures. We fit tuning curves to both EMG and M1 activity measured during the hold period, from which we computed both PDs and the change in PD between forearm postures (ΔPD). We found a unimodal distribution of these ΔPDs, the majority of which were intermediate between the typical muscle response and an unchanging, extrinsic coordinate system. We also discovered that while most neuron-to-EMG predictions generalized well across forearm postures, end-point force measured in extrinsic coordinates did not. The lack of force generalization was due to musculoskeletal changes with posture. Our results show that the dynamics of most of the recorded M1 signals are similar to those of muscle activity and imply that a BMI designed to drive an actuator with dynamics like those of muscles might be more robust and easier to learn than a BMI that commands forces or movements in external coordinates.

scholarly journals Statistical assessment of the stability of neural movement representations

2011 ◽  
Vol 106 (2) ◽  
pp. 764-774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian H. Stevenson ◽  
Anil Cherian ◽  
Brian M. London ◽  
Nicholas A. Sachs ◽  
Eric Lindberg ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Tuning Curve ◽  
Modulation Depth ◽  
Measurement Noise ◽  
Neural Representation ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Sensory Stimuli ◽  
Tuning Curves ◽  
Dynamic Tuning ◽  
Preferred Direction

In systems neuroscience, neural activity that represents movements or sensory stimuli is often characterized by spatial tuning curves that may change in response to training, attention, altered mechanics, or the passage of time. A vital step in determining whether tuning curves change is accounting for estimation uncertainty due to measurement noise. In this study, we address the issue of tuning curve stability using methods that take uncertainty directly into account. We analyze data recorded from neurons in primary motor cortex using chronically implanted, multielectrode arrays in four monkeys performing center-out reaching. With the use of simulations, we demonstrate that under typical experimental conditions, the effect of neuronal noise on estimated preferred direction can be quite large and is affected by both the amount of data and the modulation depth of the neurons. In experimental data, we find that after taking uncertainty into account using bootstrapping techniques, the majority of neurons appears to be very stable on a timescale of minutes to hours. Lastly, we introduce adaptive filtering methods to explicitly model dynamic tuning curves. In contrast to several previous findings suggesting that tuning curves may be in constant flux, we conclude that the neural representation of limb movement is, on average, quite stable and that impressions to the contrary may be largely the result of measurement noise.

Organization of the primate face motor cortex as revealed by intracortical microstimulation and electrophysiological identification of afferent inputs and corticobulbar projections

1988 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 796-818 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. S. Huang ◽  
M. A. Sirisko ◽  
H. Hiraba ◽  
G. M. Murray ◽  
B. J. Sessle
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Single Neuron ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
General Pattern ◽  
Emg Activity ◽  
Projection Neurons ◽  
Intracortical Microstimulation ◽  
Facial Musculature ◽  
The Face ◽  
Afferent Inputs

1. The technique of intracortical microstimulation (ICMS), supplemented by single-neuron recording, was used to carry out an extensive mapping of the face primary motor cortex. The ICMS study involved a total of 969 microelectrode penetrations carried out in 10 unanesthetized monkeys (Macaca fascicularis). 2. Monitoring of ICMS-evoked movements and associated electromyographic (EMG) activity revealed a general pattern of motor cortical organization. This was characterized by a representation of the facial musculature, which partially enclosed and overlapped the rostral, medial, and caudal borders of the more laterally located cortical regions representing the jaw and tongue musculatures. Responses were evoked at ICMS thresholds as low as 1 microA, and the latency of the suprathreshold EMG responses ranged from 10 to 45 ms. 3. Although contralateral movements predominated, a representation of ipsilateral movements was found, which was much more extensive than previously reported and which was intermingled with the contralateral representations in the anterior face motor cortex. 4. In examining the fine organizational pattern of the representations, we found clear evidence for multiple representation of a particular muscle, thus supporting other investigations of the motor cortex, which indicate that multiple, yet discrete, efferent microzones represent an essential organizational principle of the motor cortex. 5. The close interrelationship of the representations of all three muscle groups, as well as the presence of a considerable ipsilateral representation, may allow for the necessary integration of unilateral or bilateral activities of the numerous face, jaw, and tongue muscles, which is a feature of many of the movement patterns in which these various muscles participate. 6. In six of these same animals, plus an additional two animals, single-neuron recordings were made in the motor and adjacent sensory cortices in the anesthetized state. These neurons were electrophysiologically identified as corticobulbar projection neurons or as nonprojection neurons responsive to superficial or deep orofacial afferent inputs. The rostral, medial, lateral, and caudal borders of the face motor cortex were delineated with greater definition by ICMS and these electrophysiological procedures than by cytoarchitectonic features alone. We noted that there was an approximate fit in area 4 between the extent of projection neurons and field potentials anti-dromically evoked from the brain stem and the extent of positive ICMS sites.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

Abstract TP441: Neurovascular Coupling is Impaired in Cerebral Amyloid Angiopathy

Stroke ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Peca ◽  
Cheryl R McCreary ◽  
Emily Donaldson ◽  
Karla Sanchez ◽  
Anna Charlton ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
White Matter ◽  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
White Matter Lesion ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
Neurovascular Coupling ◽  
Occipital Lobe ◽  
Amyloid Angiopathy ◽  
Bold Response ◽  
Cerebral Amyloid

Introduction: Cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) is marked by accumulation of vascular beta-amyloid which is toxic to smooth muscle cells. An animal study and a pilot study in humans suggest decreased vasodilation in CAA. We studied patients with CAA and matched controls to determine whether neurovascular coupling is impaired in CAA. Methods: Patients with CAA and controls underwent task-related fMRI with a visual task (viewing a flashing alternating checkerboard pattern) or a motor task (tapping the fingers of the dominant hand) using a block design, and visual evoked potentials (VEPs). CAA patients were diagnosed by Boston criteria and had normal corrected visual acuity, no visual field deficits and no paresis of the dominant arm. Controls were recruited by community advertising and were matched by gender and age (±5 years) to CAA cases. Results: Eighteen CAA patients (12 M, 6F; 72±7 yrs) and eighteen controls (12 M, 6F; 70±7 yrs) were studied. For the visual task, CAA patients had reduced activity in the occipital lobe (Figure) and lower amplitude of the BOLD response vs. controls (28% reduced, p=0.005). By contrast, for the motor task CAA patients had a similar response of the primary motor cortex vs. controls (9.6% reduced BOLD response, p=0.53). VEP P100 latencies and amplitudes did not differ between CAA and controls (p=0.49 and p=0.74). Lower visual cortex BOLD amplitudes were correlated with greater white matter lesion volumes in CAA (r=-0.66, p=0.003). Conclusions: Neurovascular coupling is impaired in the occipital lobe in CAA. BOLD signal amplitudes are reduced despite normal evoked potentials, suggesting impaired vasodilation. The association with white matter lesion volume raises the possibility that impaired vasodilation may be involved in the pathogenesis of these lesions. BOLD responses in the primary motor cortex in CAA were not reduced, likely reflecting the known posterior predominance of CAA with lesser involvement of the frontal lobe.

Interaction Between Finger Opposition Movements and Aftereffects of 1Hz-rTMS on Ipsilateral Motor Cortex

2009 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 1690-1694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Avanzino ◽  
Marco Bove ◽  
Andrea Tacchino ◽  
Carlo Trompetto ◽  
Carla Ogliastro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Motor Performance ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Voluntary Movement ◽  
Motor Behavior ◽  
Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
The Other ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Opposition Movements

One-hertz repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (1Hz-rTMS) over ipsilateral motor cortex is able to modify up to 30 min the motor performance of repetitive finger opposition movements paced with a metronome at 2 Hz. We investigated whether the long-lasting rTMS effect on motor behavior can be modulated by subsequent engagement of the contralateral sensorimotor system. Motor task was performed in different experimental conditions: immediately after rTMS, 30 min after rTMS, or when real rTMS was substituted with sham rTMS. Subjects performing the motor task immediately after rTMS showed modifications in motor behavior ≤30 min after rTMS. On the other hand, when real rTMS was substituted with sham stimulation or when subjects performed the motor task 30 min after the rTMS session, the effect was no longer present. These findings suggest that the combination of ipsilateral 1Hz-rTMS and voluntary movement is crucial to endure the effect of rTMS on the movement itself, probably acting on synaptic plasticity-like mechanism. This finding might provide some useful hints for neurorehabilitation protocols.

Motor cortex excitability and fatigue in multiple sclerosis: a transcranial magnetic stimulation study

2005 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 316-321 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Liepert ◽  
D Mingers ◽  
C Heesen ◽  
T Bäumer ◽  
C Weiller
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Magnetic Stimulation ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Motor Task ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Membrane Excitability ◽  
Motor Cortex Excitability ◽  
Fatigue Severity

We investigated electrophysiological correlates of fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS). Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to explore motor excitability in three groups of subjects: MS patients with fatigue (MS-F), MS patients without fatigue (MS-NF) and healthy control subjects. All participants had to perform a fatiguing hand-grip exercise. TMS was performed prior to and after the exercise. Prior to the motor task, MS-F patients had less inhibition in the primary motor cortex compared to both other groups. Postexercise, intracortical inhibition was still reduced in the MS-F patients compared to the MS-NF patients. In MS-F patients the postexercise time interval for normalization of the motor threshold was correlated with the fatigue severity. We conclude that MS patients with fatigue have an impairment of inhibitory circuits in their primary motor cortex. The results also indicate that fatigue severity is associated with an exercise-induced reduction of membrane excitability.

Comparison of Neural Activity in the Supplementary Motor Area and in the Primary Motor Cortex in Monkeys

1991 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chen Dao-fen ◽  
B. Hyland ◽  
V. Maier ◽  
A. Palmeri ◽  
M. Wiesendanger
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Supplementary Motor Area ◽  
Motor Area

scholarly journals Cellular anatomy of the mouse primary motor cortex

Nature ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 598 (7879) ◽  
pp. 159-166
Author(s):  
Rodrigo Muñoz-Castañeda ◽  
Brian Zingg ◽  
Katherine S. Matho ◽  
Xiaoyin Chen ◽  
Quanxin Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
Single Neuron ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Projection Neuron ◽  
Mammalian Brain ◽  
Neuron Reconstruction ◽  
Multi Scale ◽  
Structural Framework ◽  
Cellular Resolution

AbstractAn essential step toward understanding brain function is to establish a structural framework with cellular resolution on which multi-scale datasets spanning molecules, cells, circuits and systems can be integrated and interpreted1. Here, as part of the collaborative Brain Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN), we derive a comprehensive cell type-based anatomical description of one exemplar brain structure, the mouse primary motor cortex, upper limb area (MOp-ul). Using genetic and viral labelling, barcoded anatomy resolved by sequencing, single-neuron reconstruction, whole-brain imaging and cloud-based neuroinformatics tools, we delineated the MOp-ul in 3D and refined its sublaminar organization. We defined around two dozen projection neuron types in the MOp-ul and derived an input–output wiring diagram, which will facilitate future analyses of motor control circuitry across molecular, cellular and system levels. This work provides a roadmap towards a comprehensive cellular-resolution description of mammalian brain architecture.

scholarly journals Chronic Stability of Single-Channel Neurophysiological Correlates of Gross and Fine Reaching Movements in the Rat

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
David T. Bundy ◽  
David J Guggenmos ◽  
Maxwell D Murphy ◽  
Randolph J. Nudo
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Local Field ◽  
Neural Activity ◽  
Local Field Potential ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Spectral Power ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Motor Recovery ◽  
Reaching Movements

AbstractFollowing injury to motor cortex, reorganization occurs throughout spared brain regions and is thought to underlie motor recovery. Unfortunately, the standard neurophysiological and neuroanatomical measures of post-lesion plasticity are only indirectly related to observed changes in motor execution. While substantial task-related neural activity has been observed during motor tasks in rodent primary motor cortex and premotor cortex, the long-term stability of these responses in healthy rats is uncertain, limiting the interpretability of longitudinal changes in the specific patterns of neural activity during motor recovery following injury. This study examined the stability of task-related neural activity associated with execution of reaching movements in healthy rodents. Rats were trained to perform a novel reaching task combining a ‘gross’ lever press and a ‘fine’ pellet retrieval. In each animal, two chronic microelectrode arrays were implanted in motor cortex spanning the caudal forelimb area (rodent primary motor cortex) and the rostral forelimb area (rodent premotor cortex). We recorded multiunit spiking and local field potential activity from 10 days to 7-10 weeks post-implantation to characterize the patterns of neural activity observed during each task component and analyzed the consistency of channel-specific task-related neural activity. Task-related changes in neural activity were observed on the majority of channels. While the task-related changes in multi-unit spiking and local field potential spectral power were consistent over several weeks, spectral power changes were more stable, despite the trade-off of decreased spatial and temporal resolution. These results show that rodent primary and premotor cortex are both involved in reaching movements with stable patterns of task-related activity across time, establishing the relevance of the rodent for future studies designed to examine changes in task-related neural activity during recovery from focal cortical lesions.

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