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Neurons in the Macaque Dorsal Premotor Cortex Respond to Execution and Observation of Actions

Vassilis Papadourakis1,2, Vassilis Raos1,2

  • 1Department of Basic Sciences, School of Medicine, University of Crete, PO Box 2208, 71003 Iraklion, Greece.

Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)
|December 12, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Researchers found mirror neurons in the dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) of macaque brains that activate during both observing and performing grasping actions, suggesting PMd is part of the mirror neuron system.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Primate Motor Control
  • Mirror Neuron System

Background:

  • Mirror neurons (MirN) are crucial for understanding actions.
  • Their presence and function in the dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) are still under investigation.
  • Previous studies have primarily focused on area F5.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the presence and properties of mirror neurons in the macaque PMd.
  • To compare the function of PMd mirror neurons with those in area F5 during action observation and execution.
  • To determine the role of PMd in the mirror neuron circuit.

Main Methods:

  • Electrophysiological recordings in macaque PMd and F5.
  • Analysis of neuronal responses during execution and observation of reaching-to-grasp actions.
  • Calculation of selectivity indices and representational similarity analysis.

Main Results:

  • Neurons in PMd fulfilled the mirror neuron criterion, responding during both action observation and execution.
  • Grip selectivity was comparable between PMd and F5 during observation, but higher in F5 during execution.
  • PMd showed earlier grip-related information compared to F5.
  • Neuronal ensembles in both areas demonstrated observation-execution matching, suggesting distributed congruency.
  • Grip encoding in PMd and F5 showed similar patterns during both conditions.

Conclusions:

  • The dorsal premotor cortex (PMd) exhibits mirror activity during action observation.
  • PMd is a significant node within the mirror neuron circuit.
  • The findings contribute to understanding action representation and social cognition in primates.
Keywords:
action executionaction observationdorsal premotor cortexmirror neurons

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