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Published on: December 31, 2013
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Sensorimotor integration in sequential manual actions: shared parietal activation across planning, execution and
Sara Stillesjö1, Hanna Hjärtström1, Anna-Maria Johansson2
1Department of Psychology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden; Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI), Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Neuroimage
|April 22, 2026
Summary
Brain activity during complex sequential manual actions was examined using fMRI. The inferior parietal lobe showed overlapping activity during planning, execution, and observation, suggesting its key role in these processes.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Neuroscience
- Motor Control
Background:
- Sequential manual actions are integral to daily life.
- Internal action models link motor representations to action execution and observation.
- Understanding brain activity differences and overlaps in planning, execution, and observation of complex actions is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate brain activity patterns during planning, execution, and observation of complex sequential manual actions.
- To identify overlapping brain regions involved in these different action-related processes.
- To elucidate the role of specific brain regions, particularly the inferior parietal lobe, in complex sequential manual actions.
Main Methods:
- Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was employed.
- Healthy adults (N=28) participated in the study.
- Brain activity was analyzed during planning, execution, and observation of sequential manual actions with varying task complexity (rotation vs. no rotation).
Main Results:
- Action execution planning showed increased activation in parietal, precentral, and sensory-motor regions.
- Execution of complex actions engaged ipsilateral parieto-frontal regions.
- Observation activated parietal regions, while planning to observe engaged occipito-parietal, precentral, and cerebellar regions.
- A significant overlap in brain activity was observed in the bilateral intraparietal sulcus across all conditions.
Conclusions:
- The inferior parietal lobe, specifically the intraparietal sulcus, plays a critical role in complex sequential manual actions.
- Overlapping neural activity in the inferior parietal lobe suggests its integration of planning, execution, and observation processes.
- These findings contribute to understanding the neural basis of motor control and action representation.
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