RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Motor planning modulates neural activity patterns in early human auditory cortex
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 682609
DO 10.1101/682609
A1 Daniel J. Gale
A1 Corson N. Areshenkoff
A1 Claire Honda
A1 Ingrid S. Johnsrude
A1 J. Randall Flanagan
A1 Jason P. Gallivan
YR 2019
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2019/07/05/682609.1.abstract
AB It is well established that movement planning involves the activation of motor-related cortical brain areas in preparation for the forthcoming action. Given that an integral component of the control of action is the processing of sensory information throughout movement, we predicted that movement planning also involves preparing early sensory cortical areas for participation in the impending behaviour. To test this hypothesis, we focused on activity in early human auditory cortex during the planning of an object manipulation task, known to involve predicting and evaluating discrete sensory events, including auditory events. We show, using functional MRI and a delayed object lifting task, that information related to the limb to be used to grasp and lift an object can be decoded, well before movement, from neural activity patterns in early auditory cortex. This suggests that action planning, in addition to preparing the motor system for movement, involves the task-specific preparation of primary sensory areas, such that they are set up to appropriately process sensory information arising during the unfolding movement.Significance Statement The mammalian auditory system is characterized by an extensive, highly interconnected web of feedback projections, an architecture that, in humans, has been primarily implicated in sustaining auditory attention and facilitating working memory. Yet, its role in supporting the planning and control of everyday object-directed movements remains underappreciated and largely unstudied. Here we show, using neural decoding methods and a naturalistic object manipulation task, that hand movement planning modulates early auditory cortical activity patterns in an automatic, motor-specific fashion. These findings suggest that, prior to movement, the motor system prepares the neural state of early auditory cortex, readying it for the processing of sensory information during movement execution.