Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Functional organization of monkey brain for abstract operation.

Shigeru Obayashi1, Ryohei Matsumoto, Tetsuya Suhara

  • 1Department of Molecular Neuroimaging, Molecular Imaging Center, National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan. ohbayash@nirs.go.jp

Cortex; a Journal Devoted to the Study of the Nervous System and Behavior
|May 31, 2007
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Three-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography for the assessment of infantile cor triatriatum sinister.

Journal of medical ultrasonics (2001)·2026
Same author

A pilot study of peripheral magnetic stimulation combined with physical therapy for motor function in early acute stroke survivors with sensory ataxic hemiparesis.

Scientific reports·2026
Same author

Registry-based estimation of cardiac event-free survival in congenital heart disease complicated by pulmonary hypertension: A nationwide registry study from Japan.

International journal of cardiology. Congenital heart disease·2026
Same author

Compensatory Augmentation in the Pre-Supplementary Motor Area Mediates Aspects of Verbal Fluency Recovery Following Cerebellar Stroke: A Multimodal SPECT and f-NIRS Pilot Study.

NeuroRehabilitation·2026
Same author

Calcified right atrial thrombus and tricuspid valve perforation in a child with acute lymphoblastic leukemia: a case report.

Journal of echocardiography·2026
Same author

Isolated unilateral absence of the right proximal pulmonary artery diagnosed in a neonate: A case report and review of the literature.

Journal of cardiology cases·2025

Monkeys performing remote tool control tasks, even with different devices, activate similar brain regions. This suggests monkeys can organize sequential operations and understand cause-and-effect, indicating sophisticated internal representation without language.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Neuroscience
  • Primate Studies

Background:

  • Humans use internal representations to map motor spaces between hands, controllers, and tools for remote operation.
  • Previous research (Obayashi et al., 2004) identified prefrontal cortex, posterior parietal cortex, and cerebellum activation in monkeys during joystick-controlled remote shovel operation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if similar brain regions activate during remote tool operation with different control devices and rules.
  • To test the hypothesis that the prefrontal cortex, posterior parietal cortex, and cerebellum are involved in the mental manipulation of internal representations during remote control tasks.

Main Methods:

  • Positron Emission Tomography (PET) was used to measure regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in two monkeys.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Monkeys performed a task requiring remote control of a shovel using dual dials to retrieve food pellets.
  • Brain activity during active dual-dial operation was compared to unplanned movement of the dials.

    • Main Results:

    • Active dual-dial operation robustly activated the prefrontal cortex, higher-order motor cortex, posterior parietal cortex, and cerebellum.
    • These activated areas were highly similar to those observed during joystick-controlled remote operation.
    • Results were consistent with previous PET studies on remote operation.

    Conclusions:

    • Monkeys appear capable of organizing abstract sequential operations based on learned rules.
    • The findings suggest monkeys may possess insight into causal relationships, implying a sophisticated internal representation system.
    • A cerebro-cerebellar neural circuit, including frontal and parietal cortices, likely underlies implicit manipulation of internal representations.