The Largest Response Component in the Motor Cortex Reflects Movement Timing but Not Movement Type.

ABSTRACT: Neural activity in monkey motor cortex (M1) and dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) can reflect a chosen movement well before that movement begins. The pattern of neural activity then changes profoundly just before movement onset. We considered the prediction, derived from formal considerations, that the transition from preparation to movement might be accompanied by a large overall change in the neural state that reflects when movement is made rather than which movement is made. Specifically, we examined "components" of the population response: time-varying patterns of activity from which each neuron's response is approximately composed. Amid the response complexity of individual M1 and PMd neurons, we identified robust response components that were "condition-invariant": their magnitude and tim

SUBMITTER: Kaufman MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5069299 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul-Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature