Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Movement imitation via an abstract trajectory representation in dorsal premotor cortex

View ORCID ProfileAaron L. Wong, Steven A. Jax, Louisa L. Smith, Laurel J. Buxbaum, John W. Krakauer
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/294207
Aaron L. Wong
1Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 19027
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Aaron L. Wong
  • For correspondence: wongaaro@einstein.edu
Steven A. Jax
1Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 19027
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Louisa L. Smith
1Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 19027
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Laurel J. Buxbaum
1Moss Rehabilitation Research Institute, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, 19027
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
John W. Krakauer
2Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205
3Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, 21205
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

ABSTRACT

Humans are particularly good at copying novel and meaningless gestures. The mechanistic and anatomical basis for this specialized imitation ability remains largely unknown. One idea is that imitation occurs by matching body configurations. Here we propose an alternative route to imitation that depends on a body-independent representation of the trajectory path of the end-effector. We studied a group of patients with strokes in the left frontoparietal cortices. We found that they were equally impaired at imitating movement trajectories using the ipsilesional limb (i.e., the non-paretic side) that were cued either by an actor using their whole arm or just by a cursor, suggesting that body configuration is not always critical for imitation and that a representation of abstract trajectory shape may suffice. In addition, imitation ability was uncorrelated to the ability to identify the trajectory shape, suggesting a dissociation between producing trajectory shapes and perceiving their paths. Finally, a lesion-symptom mapping analysis found that imitation deficits were associated with lesions in left dorsal premotor but not parietal cortex. Together, these findings suggest a novel body-independent route to imitation that relies on the ability to plan abstract movement trajectories within dorsal premotor cortex.

Significance Statement The ability to imitate is critical for rapidly learning to produce new gestures and actions, but how the brain translates observed movements into motor commands is poorly understood. Examining the ability of patients with strokes affecting the left hemisphere revealed that meaningless gestures can be imitated by succinctly representing only the motion of the hand in space, rather than the posture of the entire arm. Moreover, performance deficits correlated with lesions in dorsal premotor cortex, an area not previously associated with impaired imitation of arm postures. These findings thus describe a novel route to imitation that may also be impaired in some patients with apraxia.

Footnotes

  • ↵† Co-first authors

  • The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted December 04, 2018.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Movement imitation via an abstract trajectory representation in dorsal premotor cortex
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Movement imitation via an abstract trajectory representation in dorsal premotor cortex
Aaron L. Wong, Steven A. Jax, Louisa L. Smith, Laurel J. Buxbaum, John W. Krakauer
bioRxiv 294207; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/294207
Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Movement imitation via an abstract trajectory representation in dorsal premotor cortex
Aaron L. Wong, Steven A. Jax, Louisa L. Smith, Laurel J. Buxbaum, John W. Krakauer
bioRxiv 294207; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/294207

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Neuroscience
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (3506)
  • Biochemistry (7348)
  • Bioengineering (5324)
  • Bioinformatics (20266)
  • Biophysics (10020)
  • Cancer Biology (7744)
  • Cell Biology (11306)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (6437)
  • Ecology (9954)
  • Epidemiology (2065)
  • Evolutionary Biology (13325)
  • Genetics (9361)
  • Genomics (12587)
  • Immunology (7702)
  • Microbiology (19027)
  • Molecular Biology (7444)
  • Neuroscience (41049)
  • Paleontology (300)
  • Pathology (1230)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2138)
  • Physiology (3161)
  • Plant Biology (6861)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1273)
  • Synthetic Biology (1897)
  • Systems Biology (5313)
  • Zoology (1089)