Perturbation of cortical activity elicits regional and age-dependent effects on unconstrained reaching behavior: a pilot study

Abstract

Background: The specific and dynamic contributions of premotor and supplementary motor areas to reaching movements in aging humans are not well understood.Objective: To better understand the role of cortical motor regions and age on the control of unconstrained reaches against gravity by neurologically intact, younger and older adults.Methods: Double pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was applied at locations targeting primary motor cortex (M1), dorsal premotor area (PMA), supplementary motor area (SMA), or dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC). Paired stimuli were delivered before or after a visual cue was presented to initiate self-paced right-handed reaches to one of three, vertically oriented target locations.Results: Regional stimulation effects on movement amplitude were observed both early and late in the reach. PMA stimulation increased reach distance to a greater extent than M1, SMA, and DLPFC stimulation. M1 and PMA stimulation increased deviation from the straight-line path around the time of peak velocity to an extent that was greater than SMA and DLPFC stimulation. Cortical stimulation increased the time that elapsed after, but not before, peak velocity. Despite stronger effects of stimulation on reaches in the younger group, this group had shorter times to reach the target after reaching peak velocity.Conclusion: These results provide support for a role of PMA in visually guided movement after movement initiation. For older subjects, the increased time to arrive at the target after peak velocity despite weaker stimulation effects suggests an age-related reduction in sensorimotor processing flexibility for online control of unconstrained reaching.