Reward influences movement vigor through multiple motor cortical mechanisms.

ABSTRACT: The prospect of greater rewards often invigorates movements. What neural mechanisms support this increase of movement vigor for greater rewards? We had three rhesus monkeys perform reaching movements to targets worth different magnitudes of reward. We recorded neural population activity from primary motor and dorsal premotor cortex, brain areas at the output of cortical processing for voluntary movements, and asked how neural activity mediated the translation of reward into increased vigor. We identified features of neural activity during movement preparation, initiation, and execution that were both correlated with vigor and modulated by reward. We also found that the neural metrics that correlate with different aspects of movement vigor exhibit only limited correlation with one another,

SUBMITTER: Smoulder AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12027334 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature