Abstract
In spontaneously triggered movements the nature of the executed response has a prominent effect on the intensity and the dynamics of motor areas recruitment. Under time pressure, the time course of motor areas recruitment is necessarily shorter than that of spontaneously triggered movements because RTs may be extremely short. Moreover, different classes of RT tasks allow examining the nature and the dynamics of motor areas activation in different cognitive contexts. In the present article, we review experimental results obtained from high temporal resolution methods (mainly, but not exclusively EEG ones), during voluntary movements; these results indicate that the activity of motor areas not only depends on the nature of the executed movement but also on the cognitive context in which these movements have to be executed.
Highlights
It is widely established that the nature of the recruited motor areas and the time course of their recruitment strongly depend on the nature of the movement to be performed (Krakauer and Ghez, 2000)
The BP, discovered, by Kornhuber and Deecke (1965), is a slow electroencephalographic (EEG) wave which precedes self-paced spontaneously triggered movements. It is composed of an early, mostly bilateral, component and a late lateralized one. These components are followed by a contralateral “motor potential” which develops over the primary motor area (M1) just before electromyogram (EMG) onset [Shibasaki and Hallett (2006) for a review]
From what precedes it is an empirical fact that advance information regarding specific features of incoming movements does influence the dynamics of motor areas when they get prepared for responding; this does not necessary means that these features are coded as such by motor structures
Summary
It is widely established that the nature of the recruited motor areas and the time course of their recruitment strongly depend on the nature of the movement to be performed (Krakauer and Ghez, 2000). This is well illustrated in humans by studies using the Bereitschaftspotential (BP). The BP, discovered, by Kornhuber and Deecke (1965), is a slow electroencephalographic (EEG) wave which precedes self-paced spontaneously triggered movements It is composed of an early, mostly bilateral, component and a late lateralized one. Rosenbaum and Jorgensen (1992) asked subjects to lift a rod in order to transfer it to a final given position
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