The human primary somatosensory cortex encodes imagined movement in the absence of sensory information.

ABSTRACT: Classical systems neuroscience positions primary sensory areas as early feed-forward processing stations for refining incoming sensory information. This view may oversimplify their role given extensive bi-directional connectivity with multimodal cortical and subcortical regions. Here we show that single units in human primary somatosensory cortex encode imagined reaches in a cognitive motor task, but not other sensory-motor variables such as movement plans or imagined arm position. A population reference-frame analysis demonstrates coding relative to the cued starting hand location suggesting that imagined reaching movements are encoded relative to imagined limb position. These results imply a potential role for primary somatosensory cortex in cognitive imagery, engagement during motor pro

SUBMITTER: Jafari M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7732821 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature