Neural correlates of partial transmission of sensorimotor information in the cerebral cortex.

Using single neuron recordings in monkey primary motor (MI) cortex, two series of experiments were conducted in order to know whether response preparation can begin before perceptual processing finishes, thus providing evidence for a temporal overlap of perceptual and motor processes. In Experiment 1, a "left/right, Go/No-Go" reaction time (RT) task was used. One monkey was trained to perform wrist flexion/extension movements to align a pointer with visual targets. The visual display was organized to provide a two-dimensional stimulus: side (an easy discrimination between left and right targets) which determined movement direction, and distance (a difficult discrimination between distal and proximal targets) which determined whether or not the movement was to be made. Changes in neuronal activity, when they were time-locked to the stimulus, were almost similar in the Go and No-Go trials, and when they were time-locked to movement onset, were markedly reduced in No-Go as compared to Go trials. In Experiment 2, a stimulus-response compatibility (SRC) task was used. Two monkeys were trained to align a pointer with visual targets, on either left or right. In the spatially "compatible" trials, they had to point at the stimulus position, whereas in the "incompatible" trials, they had to point at the target located in the opposite side. For 12.5% of neurons, changes in activity associated with incompatible trials looked like changes in activity associated with movements performed in the opposite direction during compatible trials, thus suggesting the hypothesis of an automatic activation of the congruent, but incorrect response. Results of both experiments provide evidence for a partial transmission of information from visual to motor cortical areas: that is, in the No-Go trials of the first task, information about movement direction, before the decision to perform or not this movement was made, and, in the incompatible trials of the SRC task, information about the congruent, but incorrect response, before the incongruent, but correct response was programmed.

[1]  H. C. Kwan,et al.  Properties of visual cue responses in primate precentral cortex , 1985, Brain Research.

[2]  Y. Lamarre,et al.  Fast ballistic arm movements triggered by visual, auditory, and somesthetic stimuli in the monkey. I. Activity of precentral cortical neurons. , 1983, Journal of neurophysiology.

[3]  Marie-Claude Hepp-Reymond,et al.  Responses of motor cortex neurons to visual stimulation in the alert monkey , 1989, Neuroscience Letters.

[4]  S Kornblum,et al.  Neuronal coding of stimulus-response association rules in the motor cortex. , 1994, Neuroreport.

[5]  C W Eriksen,et al.  Information processing in visual search: A continuous flow conception and experimental results , 1979, Perception & psychophysics.

[6]  A. Riehle.  Visually induced signal-locked neuronal activity changes in precentral motor areas of the monkey: hierarchical progression of signal processing , 1991, Brain Research.

[7]  J Miller,et al.  Electrophysiological evidence for temporal overlap among contingent mental processes. , 1992, Journal of experimental psychology. General.

[8]  C. Eriksen,et al.  Pre- and poststimulus activation of response channels: a psychophysiological analysis. , 1988, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[9]  M G Coles,et al.  On the transmission of partial information: inferences from movement-related brain potentials. , 1992, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[10]  A. Riehle,et al.  Neuronal activity and information processing in motor control: From stages to continuous flow , 1988, Biological Psychology.

[11]  J. Miller.  Can response preparation begin before stimulus recognition finishes? , 1983, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[12]  Alexa Riehle,et al.  Neuronal networks for movement preparation , 1993 .

[13]  A. Osman,et al.  Dimensional overlap: cognitive basis for stimulus-response compatibility--a model and taxonomy. , 1990, Psychological review.

[14]  Jeff Miller,et al.  Evidence of preliminary response preparation from a divided attention task. , 1987, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[15]  J Miller,et al.  Effects of preliminary perceptual output on neuronal activity of the primary motor cortex. , 1992, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[16]  M. Coles.  Modern mind-brain reading: psychophysiology, physiology, and cognition. , 1989, Psychophysiology.

[17]  Lambertus J.M. Mulder,et al.  ATTENTION AND PERFORMANCE XIV , 1993 .

[18]  Jeff Miller,et al.  Discrete and continuous models of human information processing: theoretical distinctions and empirical results. , 1988, Acta psychologica.

[19]  J. Miller.  Discrete versus continuous stage models of human information processing: in search of partial output. , 1982, Journal of experimental psychology. Human perception and performance.

[20]  James L. McClelland.  On the time relations of mental processes: An examination of systems of processes in cascade. , 1979 .

[21]  A. Riehle,et al.  Monkey primary motor and premotor cortex: single-cell activity related to prior information about direction and extent of an intended movement. , 1989, Journal of neurophysiology.