Activation of the Dorsal Premotor Cortex and Pre-Supplementary Motor Area of Humans During an Auditory Conditional Motor Task

Abstract

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we measured regional blood flow to examine which motor areas of the human cerebral cortex are preferentially involved in an auditory conditional motor behavior. As a conditional motor task, randomly selected 330 or 660 Hz tones were presented to the subjects every 1. 0 s. The low and high tones indicated that the subjects should initiate three successive opposition movements by tapping together the right thumb and index finger or the right thumb and little finger, respectively. As a control task, the same subjects were asked to alternate the two opposition movements, in response to randomly selected tones that were presented at the same frequencies. Between the two tasks, MRI images were also scanned in the resting state while the tones were presented in the same way. Comparing the images during each of the two tasks with images during the resting state, it was observed that several frontal motor areas, including the primary motor cortex, dorsal premotor cortex (PMd), supplementary motor area (SMA), and pre-SMA, were activated. However, preferential activation during the conditional motor task was observed only in the PMd and pre-SMA of the subjects' left (contralateral) frontal cortex. The PMd has been thought to play an important role in transforming conditional as well as spatial visual cues into corresponding motor responses, but our results suggest that the PMd along with the pre-SMA are the sites where more general and extensive sensorimotor integration takes place.

Local Morphology Predicts Functional Organization of the Dorsal Premotor Region in the Human Brain

“…At the same time, other functional neuroimaging studies reported this same intersection of the SPS with the SFS to be the focus of premotor hand/ arm conditional activity (Deiber et al, 1997;Grafton et al, 1998;Toni et al, 1999;Kurata et al, 2000). These functional neuroimaging findings raised a major problem regarding our understanding of the organization of the dorsal premotor region of the human brain by failing to discriminate between the location of visuomotor hand conditional activity and the FEF.…”

“…Lesions involving this region impair severely the learning and performance of visuomotor hand/arm conditional responses in both human subjects (Petrides, 1985(Petrides, , 1997Halsband and Freund, 1990) and the monkey (Halsband and Passingham, 1982;Petrides, 1982Petrides, , 1986. In addition, functional neuroimaging in normal human subjects has shown reliable activation related to the performance of visuomotor hand/arm conditional responses within the dorsal premotor cortex at the junction of the superior precentral sulcus (SPS) with the superior frontal sulcus (SFS) (Deiber et al, 1997;Grafton et al, 1998;Toni et al, 1999;Kurata et al, 2000). However, on the basis of functional neuroimaging studies, this same general region has also been reported to be the locus of the human homolog of the frontal eye field (FEF) (Paus, 1996;Petit et al, 1997;Corbetta et al, 1998;Luna et al, 1998;Petit and Haxby, 1999;Gagnon et al, 2002;Astafiev et al, 2003;Koyama et al, 2004;Grosbras et al, 2005).…”

Towards a functional topography of sensory gating areas: Invasive P50 recording and electrical stimulation mapping in epilepsy surgery candidates

“…Its activity precedes that of the primary motor cortex in intentional movement (Weilke, 2001). In most of these studies that demonstrate the involvement of the SSMA in volition, auditory cues are chosen for external triggering of movements (e.g., Cunnington, 2002;Toma, 2003;Kurata, 2000).…”

Conditional Associative Memory for Musical Stimuli in Nonmusicians: Implications for Absolute Pitch

“…2). Considerable controversy exists in the brain-imaging literature concerning results for conditional motor tasks, typically in the form of a specific motor act of the hand cued by either an auditory or visual stimulus (Deiber et al, 1997;Grafton et al, 1998;Kurata et al, 2000). Nearly all such studies elicit activity contralateral to the hand used and often more posteriorly in area 6.…”