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Event-related Potentials During Target-response Tasks to Study Cognitive Processes of Upper Limb Use in Children with Unilateral Cerebral Palsy
Published on: January 11, 2016
Response selection and motor areas: a behavioural and electrophysiological study
L Carbonnell1, T Hasbroucq, J Grapperon
1Laboratoire de Neurobiologie de la Cognition (CNRS-LNC), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Université de Provence, 31 Chemin Joseph Aiguier, 13402, Marseille Cedex 20, France. laurence.carbonnell@up.univ-mrs.fr
Summary
Supplementary motor areas (SMAs) and primary motor areas (M1s) show distinct roles in motor control. SMAs prepare movements, while M1s execute them, with task context influencing M1 activity.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Motor Control
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Background:
- Motor control research investigates the neural mechanisms underlying movement execution.
- The roles of supplementary motor areas (SMAs) and primary motor areas (M1s) in motor planning and execution are complex and debated.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the differential involvement of SMAs and M1s in motor tasks.
- To explore how task context (simple vs. choice reaction time) modulates neural activity in these motor areas.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a precueing paradigm combining simple and choice reaction time (RT) tasks.
- Estimated brain activity using Laplacians derived from electroencephalogram (EEG) over SMAs and M1s.
Main Results:
- Reaction times were shorter for simple RT tasks compared to choice RT tasks.
- Contralateral M1 showed negativity, while ipsilateral M1 showed positivity, with ipsilateral positivity reduced in simple RT tasks.
- A preparatory negativity was observed over SMAs, which was larger in the choice RT task.
Conclusions:
- SMAs are involved in response preparation, and M1s in response execution, suggesting a hierarchical organization.
- Task-dependent inhibition of the ipsilateral M1 may reflect suppression of erroneous responses in choice tasks.
- The cognitive context of a motor task significantly influences activity patterns in cortical motor structures.
