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

doi:10.1016/0001-6918(95)00039-W

Acta Psychologica

Volume 90, Issues 1–3, November 1995, Pages 81-95

https://doi.org/10.1016/0001-6918(95)00039-W Get rights and content

Abstract

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.

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I. Architectures and methodsNeural correlates of partial transmission of sensorimotor information in the cerebral cortex

Abstract

Brain Research

Acta Psychologica

Biological Psychology

Brain Research

Neuroscience Letters

Modern mind-brain reading: Psychophysiology, physiology, and cognition

Psychophysiology

Information processing in visual search: A continuous flow conception and experimental results

Perception and Psychophysics

Pre- and post-stimulus activation of response channels: A psychophysiological analysis

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance

Asynchronous perceptual-motor transmission indexed by lateralized motor readiness potentials

Psychophysiology

Dimensional overlap: A cognitive basis for a model and a taxonomy of stimulus-response compatibility

Psychological Review

Fast ballistic arm movements triggered by visual, auditory, and somesthetic stimuli in the monkey. I. Activity of precentral cortical neurons

Journal of Neurophysiology

On the time relations of mental processes: An examination of systems of processes in cascade

Psychological Reviews

Discrete versus continuous stage models in human information processing: In search of partial output

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance

I. Architectures and methods
Neural correlates of partial transmission of sensorimotor information in the cerebral cortex