Related Experiment Video
Updated: Apr 11, 2026
Measuring and Manipulating Functionally Specific Neural Pathways in the Human Motor System with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Published on: February 23, 2020
Single-pulse Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation Reveals Contribution of Premotor Cortex to Object Shape Recognition
Sebo Uithol1, Michele Franca1, Katrin Heimann1
1University of Parma, Department of Neuroscience, Via Volturno 39, 43120 Parma, Italy.
Background:
It is known that ventral premotor cortex responds selectively to the visual perception of object shapes. However, it is unclear whether this activation also contributes to visual processing.
Objective:
In this study we want to assess whether activation in premotor areas contributes to visual perception of objects.
Methods:
We measure performance on a perception task while delivering single pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to the left premotor cortex at different latencies after stimulus onset.
Results:
We show that in cases of limited visual consciousness, disturbing the left premotor cortex 150 ms after stimulus onset results in a decrease in the capacity to recognize shapes, compared both to other latencies and to stimulation of the vertex.
Conclusion:
Premotor cortex plays a constitutive role in object shape recognition.
