Dataset Information

Medial frontal cortex motivates but does not control movement initiation in the countermanding task.

ABSTRACT: Voluntary control of behavior implies the ability to select what action is performed. The supplementary motor area (SMA) and pre-SMA are widely considered to be of central importance for this ability because of their role in movement initiation and inhibition. To test this hypothesis, we recorded from neurons in SMA and pre-SMA of monkeys performing an arm countermanding task. Temporal analysis of neural activity and behavior in this task allowed us to test whether neural activity is sufficient to control movement initiation or inhibition. Surprisingly, 99% (242 of 243) of movement-related neurons in SMA and pre-SMA failed to exhibit time-locked activity changes predictive of movement initiation in this task. We also found a second group of neurons that was more active during successful response cancelation. Of these putative inhibitory cells, 18% (7 of 40) responded early enough to be able to influence the cancelation of the movement. Thus, when tested with the countermanding task, the SMA/pre-SMA region may play a role in movement inhibition but does not appear to control movement initiation. However, the activity of 76% (202 of 267) of movement-related neurons was contingent on the expectation of reward and 42% of them reflected the amount of expected reward. These findings suggest that the movement-related activity in pre-SMA and SMA might represent the motivation for a specific action but does not determine whether or not that action is performed. This motivational signal in pre-SMA and SMA could provide an essential link between reward expectation and motor execution.

SUBMITTER: Scangos KW

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4041090 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Medial frontal cortex motivates but does not control movement initiation in the countermanding task.

Scangos Katherine Wilson KW Stuphorn Veit V

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience 20100201 5

Voluntary control of behavior implies the ability to select what action is performed. The supplementary motor area (SMA) and pre-SMA are widely considered to be of central importance for this ability because of their role in movement initiation and inhibition. To test this hypothesis, we recorded from neurons in SMA and pre-SMA of monkeys performing an arm countermanding task. Temporal analysis of neural activity and behavior in this task allowed us to test whether neural activity is sufficient ...[more]

PMID: 20130204

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Project description:The medial frontal cortex remains functionally ill-understood; this is reflected by the heterogeneity of behavioural outcomes following damage to the region. We aim to use the rich information provided by extraoperative direct electrical cortical stimulation to enhance our understanding of its functional anatomy. Examining a cohort of 38 epilepsy patients undergoing direct electrical cortical stimulation in the context of presurgical evaluation, we reviewed stimulation findings and classified them in a behavioural framework (positive motor, negative motor, somatosensory, speech disturbances, and "other"). The spatially discrete cortical stimulation-derived data points were then transformed into continuous probabilistic maps, thereby enabling the voxel-wise spatial inference widely used in the analysis of functional and structural imaging data. A functional map of stimulation findings of the medial wall emerged. Positive motor responses occurred in 141 stimulations (31.2%), anatomically located on the paracentral lobule (threshold at p<.05), extending no further than the vertical anterior commissure (VCA) line. Thirty negative motor responses were observed (6.6%), localised to the VCA line (at p < .001 uncorrected). In 43 stimulations (9.5%) a somatosensory response localised to the caudal cingulate zone (at p < .001 uncorrected), with a second region posterior to central sulcus. Speech disturbances were elicited in 38 stimulations (8.4%), more commonly but not exclusively from the language fMRI dominant side, just anterior to VCA (p < .001 uncorrected). In only 2 stimulations, the patient experienced a subjective "urge" to move in the absence of overt movement. Classifying motor behaviour along the dimensions of effector, and movement vs arrest, we derive a wholly data-driven stimulation map of the medial wall, powered by the largest number of stimulations of the region reported (n = 452) in patients imaged with MRI. This model and the underlying data provide a robust framework for understanding the architecture of the region through the joint analysis of disruptive and correlative anatomical maps.

Dataset Information

Medial frontal cortex motivates but does not control movement initiation in the countermanding task.

Publications

Medial frontal cortex motivates but does not control movement initiation in the countermanding task.

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