Neuronal activity in primate striatum and pallidum related to bimanual motor actions.
To assess whether striatal and pallidal neurones may contribute to bimanual co-ordination, two macaque monkeys were trained to perform a delayed conditional sequence of co-ordinated pull and grasp movements, executed either bimanually or unimanually. Most of the 58 task-related neurones, recorded from the caudate nucleus, putamen, external and internal divisions of the globus pallidus, exhibited an activity related to the execution of the movements. Only a quarter of neurones displayed preparatory activity. The majority of units exhibited a significant modulation of activity in unimanual trials irrespective of the hand used to perform the task. In bimanual trials, one-third of units exhibited discharge patterns reflecting a bimanual synergy, suggesting a possible role for basal ganglia in inter-limb co-operation.
Wannier
Th
T
Institute of Physiology and Program in Neurosciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
Liu
J
J
Morel
A
A
Jouffrais
C
C
Rouiller
E M
EM
D000818:Animals; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000502:physiology*; D007839:Functional Laterality; D005917:Globus Pallidus / Q000502:physiology*; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology*; D008253:Macaca mulatta / Q000502:physiology*; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D011897:Random Allocation