title: Human premotor areas parse sequences into their spatial and temporal features.
abstract: Skilled performance is characterized by precise and flexible control of movement sequences in space and time. Recent theories suggest that integrated spatio-temporal trajectories are generated by intrinsic dynamics of motor and premotor networks. This contrasts with behavioural advantages that emerge when a trained spatial or temporal feature of sequences is transferred to a new spatio-temporal combination arguing for independent neural representations of these sequence features. We used a new fMRI pattern classification approach to identify brain regions with independent vs integrated representations. A distinct regional dissociation within motor areas was revealed: whereas only the contralateral primary motor cortex exhibited unique patterns for each spatio-temporal sequence combination, bilateral premotor areas represented spatial and temporal features independently of each other. These findings advocate a unique function of higher motor areas for flexible recombination and efficient encoding of complex motor behaviours.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom Department of Neuroscience, Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam, Netherlands k.kornysheva@ucl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Katja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kornysheva
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Jörn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Diedrichsen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology*; D013028:Space Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013998:Time Perception / Q000502:physiology*
keywords: fMRI; motor control; premotor cortex; primary motor cortex; skill representation; timing