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Updated: Jun 16, 2026
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Assessing Corticospinal Excitability During Goal-Directed Reaching Behavior
Published on: December 2, 2022
Neuronal synchronization in human posterior parietal cortex during reach planning.
Jurrian Van Der Werf1, Ole Jensen, Pascal Fries
1Radboud University Nijmegen, Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, NL 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands. j.vanderwerf@ donders.ru.nl
Summary
Human posterior parietal cortex (PPC) shows distinct gamma-band synchronization for planning eye (saccade) and hand (reach) movements. This suggests specialized modules within the PPC for different effector goals.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Motor Control
Background:
- Posterior parietal cortex (PPC) involvement in movement planning is known.
- Effector specificity of human PPC regions remains debated, unlike monkey studies.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate effector specificity in human PPC during movement planning.
- Examine neuronal synchronization for saccade and reach planning.
Main Methods:
- Magnetoencephalography (MEG) recorded brain activity during reach and saccade planning.
- Subjects performed memory-guided reaches, saccades, and a dissociation task.
- Analyzed spectral power changes in gamma and alpha bands related to effector type and location.
Main Results:
- Direction-selective gamma-band synchronization (70-90 Hz) in medial PPC for reach planning.
- Lower gamma-band synchronization (50-60 Hz) in central PPC for saccade planning.
- Effector-unspecific alpha-band desynchronization in occipitoparietal regions.
Conclusions:
- Distinct modules in human PPC encode movement goals for different effectors via selective gamma-band activity.
- Findings align with the functional organization observed in monkey PPC.
- Suggests specialized neural circuits for hand and eye movement planning in the PPC.
