Neuronal dynamics of signal selective motor plan cancellation in the macaque dorsal premotor cortex

Abstract

Primates adopt various strategies to interact with the environment. Yet, no study has examined the effects of behavioral strategies with regard to how movement inhibition is implemented at the neuronal level. We modified a classical approach to study movement control (stop-task) by adding an extra signal-termed the Ignore signal-which influenced movement inhibition only under a specific strategy. We simultaneously recorded multisite neuronal activity from the dorsal premotor (PMd) cortex of macaque monkeys during a task and applied a statespace approach. As a result, we found that movement generation is characterized by neuronal dynamics that evolve between subspaces. When the movement is halted, this evolution is arrested and inverted. Conversely, when the Ignore signal is presented, inversion of the evolution is observed briefly and only when a specific behavioral strategy is adopted. Moreover, neuronal signatures during the inhibitory process were predictive of how PMd processes inhibitory signals, allowing the classification of the resulting behavioral strategy. Our data corroborate the PMd as a critical node in movement inhibition. .

Neuronal population dynamics during motor plan cancellation in non-human primates

“…To tackle this issue, we recorded single neuronal activity from PMd of rhesus monkeys while performing the countermanding task (8)(9)(10)(11)(12). In this task, a Stop signal presented in some trials during the reaction time asks for the cancellation of a movement during the motor plan development.…”

Computational Mechanisms Mediating Inhibitory Control of Coordinated Eye-Hand Movements

“…The effector-dependent stopping mechanisms are slower but may provide flexibility during time-insensitive behaviors. Such flexibility in brain and behavioral mechanisms have also been observed in selectively stopping actions [ 30 , 90 ] (see [ 91 ]).…”

“…Prior research has shown that stopping eye and hand movements are thought to be mediated by anatomically separate regions. Eye movements are thought to be stopped by distinct populations of neurons in the frontal eye field and superior colliculus [ 26 , 27 , 28 ], while cortical regions, such as the right inferior frontal cortex, pre-supplementary motor area, premotor and primary motor cortex, are important for stopping manual movements [ 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 ]. However, Leung and Cai (2007) [ 33 ] have reported both overlapping and non-overlapping activations in the prefrontal cortex during the stopping of saccades and button presses, suggesting that both common or separate nodes might mediate the stopping of coordinated eye–hand movements.…”

Response inhibition in premotor cortex corresponds to a complex reshuffle of the mesoscopic information network

“…Here, aiming to contribute to the understanding of the role of the dorsal premotor (PMd) cortex in arm motor control [8][9][10] we studied the local spiking activity (SA) derived from a multi-electrode array and implemented a combined information-theory and topological approach to describe how the collective activity of mesoscopically-defined local modules is linked to motor decision-making. Indeed, it has been shown that neurons express more their contribution to complex behavioural functions either when observed as coordinated functional ensembles [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19] or described as common responses to the input they receive (e.g., the visual stimulus orientation columns 20 ). A paradigmatic example is the interaction between fixation and movement neurons in the epochs preceding saccade generation 13,14 .…”