Monkeys time their pauses of movement and not their movement-kinematics during a synchronization-continuation rhythmic task

Abstract

A critical question in tapping behavior is to understand whether the temporal control is exerted on the duration and trajectory of the downward-upward hand movement or on the pause between hand movements. In the present study, we determined the duration of both the movement execution and pauses of monkeys performing a synchronization-continuation task (SCT), using the speed profile of their tapping behavior. We found a linear increase in the variance of pause-duration as a function of interval, while the variance of the motor implementation was relatively constant across intervals. In fact, 96% of the variability of the duration of a complete tapping cycle (pause + movement) was due to the variability of the pause duration. In addition, we performed a Bayesian model selection to determine the effect of interval duration (450-1,000 ms), serial-order (1-6 produced intervals), task phase (sensory cued or internally driven), and marker modality (auditory or visual) on the duration of the movement-pause and tapping movement. The results showed that the most important parameter used to successfully perform the SCT was the control of the pause duration. We also found that the kinematics of the tapping movements was concordant with a stereotyped ballistic control of the hand pressing the push-button. The present findings support the idea that monkeys used an explicit timing strategy to perform the SCT, where a dedicated timing mechanism controlled the duration of the pauses of movement, while also triggered the execution of fixed movements across each interval of the rhythmic sequence.

Single trial beta oscillations index time estimation

“…Praamstra and Pope (2007) described a reduction in post movement beta synchronisation in Parkinson patients who experience motor and perceptual timing difficulties, both caused by an aggravated dopaminergic system (Jahanshahi et al, 2010). Moreover, the hypothesis of motor inhibition for timing is congruent with observation that monkeys in the synchronization-continuations task time the pauses and not the kinematics of their movements (Donnet et al, 2012).…”

Do non-human primates cooperate? Evidences of motor coordination during a joint action task in macaque monkeys

“…Indeed, dynamical synchronization processes during cooperative behavior have been described in several empirical examples during joint action tasks in humans, where individuals adjust their own behavior to that of another person in time (Schmidt, Fitzpatrick, Caron, & Mergeche, 2011;Sebanz & Knoblich, 2009), under both intended and unintended conditions (Issartel, Marin, & Capodi, 2007;Richardson, Marsh, & Schmidt, 2005;Schmidt, Fitzpatrick, Caron and Mergeche, 2011). A recent behavioral study (Donnet, Bartolo, Fernandes, Cunha, Prado, & Merchant, 2014) has shown that macaque monkeys use an explicit strategy to perform a synchronization-continuation task, in which they control the duration of their tapping pauses to properly perform the task. Together with the results of other experiments by the same group (Merchant & Honing, 2014;Merchant, Zarco, P erez, Prado, & Bartolo, 2011), this suggests that macaque monkeys show some of the behavioral traits that define rhythmic entrainment.…”

Finding the beat: a neural perspective across humans and non-human primates

“…Furthermore, LFPs are a local version of the EEG that is not distorted by the meninges and the scalp and that is a signal that provides important information about the input-output processing inside local networks [97]. Now, the analysis of putaminal LFPs in monkeys performing the SCT revealed an orderly change in the power of transient modulations in the gamma (30-70 Hz) and beta (15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30) as a function of the duration of the intervals produced in the SCT (figure 3) [98]. The burst of LFP oscillations showed different preferred intervals so that a range of recording locations represented all the tested durations.…”