Motor Cortical Networks for Skilled Movements Have Dynamic Properties That Are Related to Accurate Reaching

Neurons in the Primary Motor Cortex (MI) are known to form functional ensembles with one another in order to produce voluntary movement. Neural network changes during skill learning are thought to be involved in improved fluency and accuracy of motor tasks. Unforced errors during skilled tasks provi...

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Main Authors: David F. Putrino, Zhe Chen, Soumya Ghosh, Emery N. Brown
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2011-01-01
Series:Neural Plasticity
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/413543
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author David F. Putrino
Zhe Chen
Soumya Ghosh
Emery N. Brown
author_facet David F. Putrino
Zhe Chen
Soumya Ghosh
Emery N. Brown
author_sort David F. Putrino
collection DOAJ
description Neurons in the Primary Motor Cortex (MI) are known to form functional ensembles with one another in order to produce voluntary movement. Neural network changes during skill learning are thought to be involved in improved fluency and accuracy of motor tasks. Unforced errors during skilled tasks provide an avenue to study network connections related to motor learning. In order to investigate network activity in MI, microwires were implanted in the MI of cats trained to perform a reaching task. Spike trains from eight groups of simultaneously recorded cells (95 neurons in total) were acquired. A point process generalized linear model (GLM) was developed to assess simultaneously recorded cells for functional connectivity during reaching attempts where unforced errors or no errors were made. Whilst the same groups of neurons were often functionally connected regardless of trial success, functional connectivity between neurons was significantly different at fine time scales when the outcome of task performance changed. Furthermore, connections were shown to be significantly more robust across multiple latencies during successful trials of task performance. The results of this study indicate that reach-related neurons in MI form dynamic spiking dependencies whose temporal features are highly sensitive to unforced movement errors.
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spelling doaj-art-1a0c75d85a30416ca18fd81b367341c32025-02-03T06:11:33ZengWileyNeural Plasticity2090-59041687-54432011-01-01201110.1155/2011/413543413543Motor Cortical Networks for Skilled Movements Have Dynamic Properties That Are Related to Accurate ReachingDavid F. Putrino0Zhe Chen1Soumya Ghosh2Emery N. Brown3Neuroscience Statistics Research Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USANeuroscience Statistics Research Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USACentre for Neuromuscular and Neurological Disorders, University of Western Australia, QEII Medical Centre, Nedlands, WA 6009, AustraliaNeuroscience Statistics Research Laboratory, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USANeurons in the Primary Motor Cortex (MI) are known to form functional ensembles with one another in order to produce voluntary movement. Neural network changes during skill learning are thought to be involved in improved fluency and accuracy of motor tasks. Unforced errors during skilled tasks provide an avenue to study network connections related to motor learning. In order to investigate network activity in MI, microwires were implanted in the MI of cats trained to perform a reaching task. Spike trains from eight groups of simultaneously recorded cells (95 neurons in total) were acquired. A point process generalized linear model (GLM) was developed to assess simultaneously recorded cells for functional connectivity during reaching attempts where unforced errors or no errors were made. Whilst the same groups of neurons were often functionally connected regardless of trial success, functional connectivity between neurons was significantly different at fine time scales when the outcome of task performance changed. Furthermore, connections were shown to be significantly more robust across multiple latencies during successful trials of task performance. The results of this study indicate that reach-related neurons in MI form dynamic spiking dependencies whose temporal features are highly sensitive to unforced movement errors.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/413543
spellingShingle David F. Putrino
Zhe Chen
Soumya Ghosh
Emery N. Brown
Motor Cortical Networks for Skilled Movements Have Dynamic Properties That Are Related to Accurate Reaching
Neural Plasticity
title Motor Cortical Networks for Skilled Movements Have Dynamic Properties That Are Related to Accurate Reaching
title_full Motor Cortical Networks for Skilled Movements Have Dynamic Properties That Are Related to Accurate Reaching
title_fullStr Motor Cortical Networks for Skilled Movements Have Dynamic Properties That Are Related to Accurate Reaching
title_full_unstemmed Motor Cortical Networks for Skilled Movements Have Dynamic Properties That Are Related to Accurate Reaching
title_short Motor Cortical Networks for Skilled Movements Have Dynamic Properties That Are Related to Accurate Reaching
title_sort motor cortical networks for skilled movements have dynamic properties that are related to accurate reaching
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/413543
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