Premotor cortex and the retrieval of movement

It is argued that the premotor cortex plays a crucial role in the retrieval of movement. Monkeys with bilateral lesions in premotor cortex were found to be impaired at selecting between two movements on the basis of visual cues. This was true whether the visual cue was present at the time of response or was no longer visible. Yet other monkeys with bilateral lesions in dorsal premotor cortex had little difficulty in remembering a movement if they had just been forced to make it a few seconds earlier. It is suggested that the premotor cortex is involved in the process of translation from a visual or auditory cue to an associated movement.