Abstract
BackgroundAnticipatory planning, the ability to anticipate future perceptual-motor demands of a goal-oriented action sequence, is essential for flexible, purposeful behavior. Once an action goal has been defined, movement details necessary to achieve that goal can be selected. Here, we investigate if anticipatory planning takes place even when multi-step actions are being carried out. How, we may ask, are the cerebral circuits involved in movement selection influenced by anticipated object-center task demands? Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to investigate how changes in corticospinal excitability (CSE) are dependent on anticipated task variables of intended future actions. Specifically, single- and paired-pulse TMS was used to evaluate corticospinal excitability during the action selection phase preparatory to grasp execution.ResultsWe found that during the premovement phase, there is an object- and muscle-specific modulation in the intrinsic hand muscle that will be used during a forthcoming grasping action. Depending on whether the participants were instructed to perform a single- or double-step movement sequence, modulation of the corticospinal output to the appropriate hand muscles was dependent on what object was to be grasped and what type of movement was being prepared. No modulation in excitability was observed during one-step movements.ConclusionsAnticipation of intended task demands plays an important role in controlling multi- step actions during which ongoing behavior may need to be adjusted. This finding supports the notion that the cortico-cortical mechanism involving movement planning is specific for an object’s properties as well as for the goal of the movement sequence.
Highlights
Anticipatory planning, the ability to anticipate future perceptual-motor demands of a goal-oriented action sequence, is essential for flexible, purposeful behavior
We calculated the ratio between the average amplitude of motor evoked potential (MEP) evoked by paired-pulse Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and that of MEPs evoked by single-pulse TMS for the corresponding condition
Additional repeated measures ANOVA tests were performed on MEP facilitation ratios with types of movement, stimulus size and TMS delivery timing as within-subjects factors
Summary
Anticipatory planning, the ability to anticipate future perceptual-motor demands of a goal-oriented action sequence, is essential for flexible, purposeful behavior. We may ask, are the cerebral circuits involved in movement selection influenced by anticipated object-center task demands? Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) was used to investigate how changes in corticospinal excitability (CSE) are dependent on anticipated task variables of intended future actions. Neurophysiological evidence indicates that computations regarding prehensile actions occur within a lateral parietofrontal circuit involving the inferior intraparietal (area AIP in the macaque) and the ventral premotor. Consistent with observations in monkeys, activation of human AIP (hAIP) area is observed when objects are grasped under visual guidance, but it seems to be tuned to the type of grasp to be adopted during movement planning [11]. Recent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies suggest that activity in the motor cortex (M1) is modulated by the level of congruence between the type of grasp expected and the size of the stimulus [11]
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