RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Congruent Activity during Action and Action Observation in Motor Cortex
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 13241
OP 13250
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2895-07.2007
VO 27
IS 48
A1 Dennis Tkach
A1 Jacob Reimer
A1 Nicholas G. Hatsopoulos
YR 2007
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/27/48/13241.abstract
AB A variety of studies have shown that motor cortical areas can be activated by observation of familiar actions. Here, we describe single-neuron responses in monkey primary motor (MI) and dorsal premotor (PMd) cortices during passive observation and execution of a familiar task. We show that the spiking modulation, preferred directions, and encoded information of cells in MI and PMd remain consistent during both observation and movement. Furthermore, we find that the presence of a visual target is necessary to elicit this congruent neural activity during observation. These findings along with results from our analysis of the oscillatory power in the beta frequency of the local field potential are consistent with previous imaging and EEG studies that have suggested that congruence between observation and action is a general feature of the motor system, even outside of canonical “mirror” areas. Such congruent activity has proposed relevance to motor learning, mimicry, and communication and has practical applications for the development of motor-cortical neuroprostheses in paralyzed patients.