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Updated: Mar 26, 2026
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Measuring and Manipulating Functionally Specific Neural Pathways in the Human Motor System with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Published on: February 23, 2020
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Inactivation of the Dorsal Premotor Area Disrupts Internally Generated, But Not Visually Guided, Sequential Movements
Machiko Ohbayashi1, Nathalie Picard1, Peter L Strick2
1Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition, Systems Neuroscience Institute, University of Pittsburgh Brain Institute, and Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15261.
Summary
The dorsal premotor area (PMd) is crucial for internally generated movement sequences. Inactivating the PMd significantly impaired memory-guided tasks but not visually guided ones, highlighting its role in motor skill acquisition.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Motor Control
- Cognitive Neuroscience
Background:
- The dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) is implicated in visually guided reaching.
- Skill acquisition involves forming associations between sequential movements through practice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the neural basis of acquired motor skills in the dorsal premotor area (PMd).
- To differentiate the role of PMd in visually guided versus internally generated sequential movements.
Main Methods:
- Trained two monkeys (Cebus apella) on two sequential reaching tasks: one visually guided and one memory-guided.
- Examined neural activity in the PMd during task performance.
- Inactivated the PMd locally to assess its causal role in each task.
Main Results:
- Similar numbers of PMd neurons were active during both visually guided and memory-guided sequential movements.
- Local inactivation of the PMd significantly impaired performance of memory-guided sequential movements.
- Inactivation of the PMd had minimal effect on visually guided sequential movements.
Conclusions:
- The dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) plays a critical role in the internal generation of sequential movements.
- PMd is essential for maintaining arbitrary motor-motor associations required for memory-guided sequences.
- While involved in visually guided sequences, PMd's primary importance lies in internally guided motor control.
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