Extending the cortical grasping network: Pre-supplementary motor neuron activity during vision and grasping of objects

Marco Lanzilotto, Alessandro Livi, Monica Maranesi, Marzio Gerbella, Falk Barz, Patrick Ruther, Leonardo Fogassi, Giacomo Rizzolatti, Luca Bonini

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

39 Scopus citations

Abstract

Grasping relies on a network of parieto-frontal areas lying on the dorsolateral and dorsomedial parts of the hemispheres. However, the initiation and sequencing of voluntary actions also requires the contribution of mesial premotor regions, particularly the pre-supplementary motor area F6. We recorded 233 F6 neurons from 2 monkeys with chronic linear multishank neural probes during reaching-grasping visuomotor tasks. We showed that F6 neurons play a role in the control of forelimb movements and some of them (26%) exhibit visual and/or motor specificity for the target object. Interestingly, area F6 neurons form 2 functionally distinct populations, showing either visually-triggered or movement-related bursts of activity, in contrast to the sustained visual-to-motor activity displayed by ventral premotor area F5 neurons recorded in the same animals and with the same task during previous studies. These findings suggest that F6 plays a role in object grasping and extend existing models of the cortical grasping network.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)4435-4449
Number of pages15
JournalCerebral Cortex
Volume26
Issue number12
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2016

Keywords

  • Macaque
  • Multielectrode probes
  • Reaching-grasping
  • Visuomotor neurons

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