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Related Experiment Videos

Functional relations between primate motor cortex cells and muscles: fixed and flexible.

E E Fetz1, P D Cheney

  • 1Department of Physiology & Biophysics, University of Washington, Seattle 98195.

Ciba Foundation Symposium
|January 1, 1987
PubMed
Summary

Motor cortex cells influence muscles through flexible coactivation and fixed corticomotoneuronal (CM) connections. CM cells show specific firing patterns, sometimes active without target muscles, suggesting roles in fine motor control.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Motor Control
  • Primate Studies

Background:

  • Understanding the precise neural mechanisms by which the motor cortex controls voluntary movement is crucial.
  • Previous research has utilized correlational evidence, such as coactivation and cross-correlation, to infer the effects of motor cortex cells on muscles.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the distinct roles of different types of motor cortex cell activity in muscle control in behaving monkeys.
  • To differentiate between flexible coactivation and fixed synaptic connections from the motor cortex to muscles.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of precentral cell activity and limb muscle electromyograms (EMG) in behaving monkeys.
  • Utilizing spike-triggered averaging of EMG to identify short-latency post-spike facilitation.

Related Experiment Videos

  • Examining cell and muscle activity during ramp-and-hold wrist responses and varying force levels.

    • Main Results:

    • Coactivation between precentral cells and muscles is flexible and condition-dependent.
    • Short-latency EMG facilitation suggests fixed corticomotoneuronal (CM) synaptic connections.
    • CM cells facilitate agonist muscles and inhibit antagonists, with distinct firing patterns from target muscles.
    • CM cells can be active without their target motor units, especially at low force levels, and inactive during forceful movements.

    Conclusions:

    • Corticospinal pathways, mediated by CM cells, provide a relatively fixed link to motoneurons.
    • Motor cortex cells exhibit flexible coactivation and fixed CM connections, contributing differentially to muscle control.
    • CM cell recruitment patterns suggest a preferential role in finely controlled movements rather than forceful actions.