Planning Ahead: Object-Directed Sequential Actions Decoded from Human Frontoparietal and Occipitotemporal Networks.
Jason P Gallivan1, Ingrid S Johnsrude2, J Randall Flanagan1
1Centre for Neuroscience Studies Department of Psychology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada K7L 3N6.
Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
|January 11, 2015
Summary
Brain activity patterns in frontoparietal and occipitotemporal cortex predict complex object manipulation sequences. This research reveals how the brain plans and represents sequential actions for goal-directed movements.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Motor Control
Background:
- Object manipulation involves sequential motor acts to achieve goals.
- Research on planning visually guided movements is extensive, but planning of post-grasp action sequences is less understood.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the neural basis of real-object manipulation sequences.
- Examine how the brain plans and represents complex, goal-directed actions after grasping an object.
Main Methods:
- Used event-related functional MRI (fMRI) and pattern decoding.
- Employed a delayed-movement task with varying action sequence complexity and spatial goals.
Main Results:
- Activity patterns in frontoparietal areas predicted action sequences before movement.
- Sequence-related information was also decoded from pre-movement signals in object- and body-selective occipitotemporal cortex (OTC).
Conclusions:
- Both frontoparietal and occipitotemporal circuits are involved in planning object-manipulation sequences.
- These brain regions transform object information into complex, goal-directed movements.
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