Neuron
Volume 45, Issue 6, 24 March 2005, Pages 967-973
Journal home page for Neuron

Article
Anticipatory Activity in Primary Motor Cortex Codes Memorized Movement Sequences

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2005.01.036Get rights and content
Under an Elsevier user license
open archive

Summary

Movement sequences, defined both by the component movements and by the serial order in which they are produced, are fundamental building blocks of motor behavior. The serial order of sequence production is strongly encoded in medial motor areas. It is not known to what extent sequences are further elaborated or encoded in primary motor cortex. Here, we describe cells in the primary motor cortex of the monkey that show anticipatory activity exclusively related to a specific memorized sequence of upcoming movements. In addition, the injection of muscimol, a GABA agonist, into motor cortex resulted in an increase in the error rate during sequence production, without concomitant effects on nonsequenced motor performance. Our results challenge the role of medial motor areas in the control of well-practiced movement sequences and suggest that motor cortex contains a complete apparatus for the planning and production of this complex behavior.

Cited by (0)

3

Present address: Department of Physiology, Juntendo University, School of Medicine, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan.