Abstract
Experiments in which monkeys have to select or estimate the location of a target are revealing more about the role of the dorsal premotor cortex in decision making.
Highlights
How might the brain make a decision in such a situation? Studies of primates suggest that a region of the brain called the dorsal premotor cortex plays an important role in making target selection decisions (Cisek and Kalaska, 2005), and that the primary motor cortex is responsible for executing such decisions
Neurons in the dorsal premotor cortex (PMd neurons) and the primary motor cortex have a "preferred direction", and the Northwestern group measured the level of neural activity as a function of the angle between the preferred direction of groups of neurons and the direction selected by the monkey (Figure 1C)
The Northwestern group observed relatively high levels of activity in the PMd neurons representing directions other than the selected direction when the uncertainty was high: this suggests that, during decision making, the dorsal premotor cortex represents all directions that might be correct, each weighted by its probability of success
Summary
Studies of primates suggest that a region of the brain called the dorsal premotor cortex plays an important role in making target selection decisions (Cisek and Kalaska, 2005), and that the primary motor cortex is responsible for executing such decisions. In eLife, Lee Miller and colleagues at Northwestern University, including Brain Dekleva as first author, report the results of experiments on monkeys that shed new light on the role of these two regions in making target estimation decisions (Dekleva et al, 2016).
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