Supplementary motor area: neuronal response to motor instructions

1. Single-unit recordings were obtained from the supplementary motor area of the cerebral cortex of two monkeys during execution of learned movements 2. Monkeys were required to push or pull a cast attached to the right forelimb in response to a sudden perturbation delivered via the cast. An instruction as to the direction of the monkey's movement was delivered 2.5--5 s prior to the occurrence of the perturbation and correct performance, therefore, required the animal to develop a preparatory state prior to the perturbation. 3. Of many hundreds of neurons recorded, 201 exhibited instruction-induced changes of activity during the period intervening between the instruction and the perturbation-triggered movement. 4. In 94 neurons, effects of the instruction were differential depending on which of the two instructions was given, whereas in 107 neurons, effects were nondifferential. The latencies of the differential responses appeared to be shorter (starting as early as 140 ms after the instruction). 5. The magnitude of the instruction effects varied in parallel with development of enhanced motor skill as the monkeys gained more experience in responding to the triggering stimulus. 6. These observations substantiate the hypothesis that the supplementary motor area plays a part in modifying a sensory-triggered motor output.