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Non-spatial, motor-specific activation in posterior parietal cortex

Nature Neuroscience volume 5, pages 580–588 (2002)Cite this article

Abstract

A localized cluster of neurons in macaque posterior parietal cortex, termed the parietal reach region (PRR), is activated when a reach is planned to a visible or remembered target. To explore the role of PRR in sensorimotor transformations, we tested whether cells would be activated when a reach is planned to an as-yet unspecified goal. Over one-third of PRR cells increased their firing after an instruction to prepare a reach, but not after an instruction to prepare a saccade, when the target of the movement remained unknown. A partially overlapping population (two-thirds of cells) was activated when the monkey was informed of the target location but not the type of movement to be made. Thus a subset of PRR neurons separately code spatial and effector-specific information, consistent with a role in specifying potential motor responses to particular targets.

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Figure 1: Localization of the parietal reach region.
Figure 2: Neuronal activity in PRR can be evoked by the intention to make an arm movement even without a spatial target, or by spatial information without effector information.
Figure 3: Intention cells in the IPS.
Figure 4: Effector-specific activity in PRR is not driven by a prediction of upcoming target location.
Figure 5: Effector-specific activity in PRR is not driven by proprioceptive feedback from the arm or eyes.
Figure 6: Effector-specific activity in PRR is not driven by color-selective sensory responses.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Y.E. Cohen, G.C. DeAngelis and J.H.R. Maunsell for comments on an early version of the manuscript, J. Baker, A. Snyder and D.C. Van Essen for the anatomical MR and T. Harper for technical assistance. This work was supported by the Klingenstein Fund, the Sloan Foundation, the McDonnell Center for Higher Brain Research and the NIH.

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  1. Jeffrey L. Calton

    Present address: Department of Psychology, California State University, Sacramento, California, 95819, USA

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  1. Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Box 8108, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 S Euclid Ave., St. Louis, 63110, Missouri, USA

    Jeffrey L. Calton, Anthony R. Dickinson & Lawrence H. Snyder

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Correspondence to Lawrence H. Snyder.

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Calton, J., Dickinson, A. & Snyder, L. Non-spatial, motor-specific activation in posterior parietal cortex. Nat Neurosci 5, 580–588 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn0602-862

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