HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Port, N. L. Articles by Georgopoulos, A. P. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Port, N. L. Articles by Georgopoulos, A. P.

Motor Cortical Activity during Interception of Moving Targets

Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Minneapolis

The single-unit activity of 831 cells was recorded in the arm area of the motor cortex of two monkeys while the monkeys intercepted a moving visual stimulus (interception task) or remained immobile during presentation of the same moving stimulus (no-go task). The moving target traveled on an oblique path from either lower corner of a screen toward the vertical meridian, and its movement time (0.5, 1.0, or 1.5 sec) and velocity profile (accelerating, decelerating, or constant velocity) were pseudorandomly varied. The moving target had to be intercepted within 130 msec of target arrival at an interception point. By comparing motor cortical activity at the single-neuron and population levels between the interception and no-go tasks, we tested whether information about parameters of moving target is represented in the primary motor cortex to generate appropriate motor responses. A substantial number of neurons displayed modulation of their activity during the no-go task, and this activity was often affected by the stimulus parameters. These results suggest a role of motor cortex in specifying the timing of movement initiation based on information about target motion. In addition, there was a lack of systematic relation between the onset times of neural activity in the interception and no-go tasks, suggesting that processing of information concerning target motion and generation of hand movement occurs in parallel. Finally, the activity in the most motor cortical neurons was modulated according to an estimate of the time-to-target interception, raising the possibility that time-to-interception may be coded in the motor cortical activity.

Key Words: Go/no-go • Monkey • Target acceleration

This article has been cited by other articles:

				G. Bosco, M. Carrozzo, and F. Lacquaniti Contributions of the Human Temporoparietal Junction and MT/V5+ to the Timing of Interception Revealed by Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation J. Neurosci., November 12, 2008; 28(46): 12071 - 12084. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				P. Senot, S. Baillet, B. Renault, and A. Berthoz Cortical Dynamics of Anticipatory Mechanisms in Interception: A Neuromagnetic Study J. Cogn. Neurosci., October 1, 2008; 20(10): 1827 - 1838. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. E. Brown, E. T. Wilson, M. A. Goodale, and P. L. Gribble Motor Force Field Learning Influences Visual Processing of Target Motion J. Neurosci., September 12, 2007; 27(37): 9975 - 9983. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L. A. Mrotek and J. F. Soechting Target Interception: Hand-Eye Coordination and Strategies J. Neurosci., July 4, 2007; 27(27): 7297 - 7309. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. R. Carey, K. R. Greer, T. K. Grunewald, J. L. Steele, J. W. Wiemiller, E. Bhatt, A. Nagpal, O. Lungu, and E. J. Auerbach Primary Motor Area Activation during Precision-Demanding versus Simple Finger Movement. Neurorehabil Neural Repair, September 1, 2006; 20(3): 361 - 370. [Abstract] [PDF]

				H. Merchant and A. P. Georgopoulos Neurophysiology of Perceptual and Motor Aspects of Interception J Neurophysiol, January 1, 2006; 95(1): 1 - 13. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. V. Roitman, S. Pasalar, M. T. V. Johnson, and T. J. Ebner Position, Direction of Movement, and Speed Tuning of Cerebellar Purkinje Cells during Circular Manual Tracking in Monkey J. Neurosci., October 5, 2005; 25(40): 9244 - 9257. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. Zago and F. Lacquaniti Internal Model of Gravity for Hand Interception: Parametric Adaptation to Zero-Gravity Visual Targets on Earth J Neurophysiol, August 1, 2005; 94(2): 1346 - 1357. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J. C. Dessing, C. (L. E. Peper, D. Bullock, and P. J. Beek How Position, Velocity, and Temporal Information Combine in the Prospective Control of Catching: Data and Model J. Cogn. Neurosci., April 1, 2005; 17(4): 668 - 686. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Merchant, A. Battaglia-Mayer, and A. P. Georgopoulos Neural Responses during Interception of Real and Apparent Circularly Moving Stimuli in Motor Cortex and Area 7a Cereb Cortex, March 1, 2004; 14(3): 314 - 331. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. Salinas Background Synaptic Activity as a Switch Between Dynamical States in a Network Neural Comput., July 1, 2003; 15(7): 1439 - 1475. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				W. Kruse, S. Dannenberg, R. Kleiser, and K.-P. Hoffmann Temporal Relation of Population Activity in Visual Areas MT/MST and in Primary Motor Cortex during Visually Guided Tracking Movements Cereb Cortex, May 1, 2002; 12(5): 466 - 476. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Merchant, A. Battaglia-Mayer, and A. P. Georgopoulos Effects of Optic Flow in Motor Cortex and Area 7a J Neurophysiol, October 1, 2001; 86(4): 1937 - 1954. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]