Abstract
A monkey was trained in a reaching task with a delay period: the arm to be used, reach direction and extent could all be varied. Microelectrode recordings were made in area 7a of the parietal lobe in order to determine if the activity of single cortical neurons coded any of these parameters as a precued reach was prepared. Parameter preparation was manifested either as a differential response to the signals providing laterality and target location information, or as differential rates of discharge during the last .4 s of the delay period. Reach direction was the parameter most commonly coded (16%). When extent (small or large) was discriminated (9%), it was usually dependent on the directional parameter. It was, however, independent of spatial position. Laterality preparatory coding was also rare (9%), and furthermore was never observed in differential discharge rates at the end of the delay period. Area 7a appears, therefore, to be a cortical locus of direction preparation.
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© 1991 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Mackay, W.A., Riehle, A. (1991). Correlates of Preparation of Arm Reach Parameters in Parietal Area 7A of the Cerebral Cortex. In: Requin, J., Stelmach, G.E. (eds) Tutorials in Motor Neuroscience. NATO ASI Series, vol 62. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3626-6_28
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-3626-6_28
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