Contribution of the cerebellum to self-initiated synchronized movements: a PET study

Positron emission tomography (PET) was used to examine the neural substrate underlying self-initiated versus externally triggered synchronized movements. Seven healthy subjects performed synchronized right index finger and foot movements in two conditions: either by setting them going at their own pace (self-initiated condition) or by reacting to randomly dispensed auditory signals (externally triggered condition). In addition, subjects either self-initiated or performed in reaction to an audible tone a sequence of finger and foot movements. We hypothesized that cerebellar activity would reflect the behavioural difference observed when hand and foot are self-initiated synchronously compared to when these movements are externally triggered. Consistent with early observations by one of us (Paillard 1948, Année Psychologique, pp 28-47), subjects exhibited a precession of finger initiation over foot dorsi-flexion in the externally triggered condition, and a precession of foot dorsi-flexion over finger onset in the self-initiated condition. In addition to the cortical areas already described in the literature as differently activated in self-initiated and externally triggered movements, we found, according to the research hypothesis, a prominent activation of the left postero-lateral hemi-cerebellum in self-initiated synchronized movements when compared to the externally triggered movements. No cerebellar activity was found for self-initiated sequence of hand-foot movements when compared to externally triggered sequence of hand and foot movements. We suggest that this cerebellar activity could be related to some motor timing processes specifically required by the self-initiated synchronized movements.