Primary motor cortex is involved in bimanual coordination

O. Donchin, A. Gribova, O. Steinberg, H. Bergman and E. Vaadia ()
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O. Donchin: The Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School
A. Gribova: The Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School
O. Steinberg: The Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School
H. Bergman: The Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School
E. Vaadia: The Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School

Nature, 1998, vol. 395, issue 6699, 274-278

Abstract: Abstract Many voluntary movements involve coordination between the limbs1,2. However, there have been very few attempts to study the neuronal mechanisms that mediate this coordination. Here we have studied the activity of cortical neurons while monkeys performed tasks that required coordination between the two arms. We found that most neurons in the primary motor cortex (MI) show activity specific to bimanual movements (bimanual-related activity), which is strikingly different from the activity of the same neurons during unimanual movements. Moreover, units in the supplementary motor area (SMA; the area of cortex most often associated with bimanual coordination3) showed no more bimanual-related activity than units in MI. Our results challenge the classic view that MI controls the contralateral (opposite) side of the body and that SMA is responsible for the coordination of the arms. Rather, our data suggest that both cortical areas share the control of bilateral coordination.

Date: 1998
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DOI: 10.1038/26220

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