Dorsal parietal area 5 Encodes immediate reach in sequential arm movements

Yuhui Li, He Cui

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

To generate a coherent action sequence, it is essential to integrate all component movements beforehand, and such sequence-related information has been observed in numerous brain regions. However, this high-level sequential plan encompassing multiple motor elements in parallel ultimately must be decomposed into serial motor commands to be executed by the musculoskeletal system. In the present study, we recorded single-neuron activity from dorsal parietal area 5 (area 5d) while monkeys performed a double-reach task, and found that area 5d conveys the immediate upcoming reach, but not the subsequent movement, as opposed to the entire movement sequence being encoded as in other cortical sensorimotor areas. The elementary movement coded in area 5d suggests that unfolding of the motor sequence begins in the parietal-frontal cortex, instead of being exclusively implemented by downstream subcortical and spinal circuits.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)14455-14465
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Neuroscience
Volume33
Issue number36
DOIs
StatePublished - 2013

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Neuroscience

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