title: How action selection can be embodied: intracranial gamma band recording shows response competition during the Eriksen flankers test.
abstract: Recent findings in monkeys suggest that action selection is based on a competition between various action options that are automatically planned by the motor system. Here we discuss data from intracranial EEG recordings in human premotor cortex (PMC) during a bimanual version of the Eriksen flankers test that suggest that the same principles apply to human action decisions. Recording sites in the dorsal PMC show an early but undifferentiated activation, a delayed response that depends on the experimental conditions and, finally, a movement related activation during action execution. Additionally, we found that the medial part of the PMC show a significant increase in response for ipsilateral trials, suggesting a role in inhibiting the wrong response. The ventral PMC seems to be involved in action execution, rather than action selection. Together these findings suggest that the human PMC is part of a network that specifies, selects, and executes actions.
authors.affiliation: Brain Center for Social and Motor Cognition - Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia Parma, Italy ; Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Fausto
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Caruana
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: Sebo
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Uithol
authors.affiliation: Department of Life and Reproduction Sciences, University of Verona Verona, Italy.
authors.forename: Gaetano
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Cantalupo
authors.affiliation: "Claudio Munari" Center for Epilepsy Surgery, Ospedale Niguarda-Ca' Granda Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Ivana
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Sartori
authors.affiliation: "Claudio Munari" Center for Epilepsy Surgery, Ospedale Niguarda-Ca' Granda Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Giorgio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lo Russo
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, University of Parma Parma, Italy ; Department of Biomedical, Metabolism, and Neural Science, NOCSAE Hospital, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Pietro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Avanzini
keywords: action selection; embodiment; human PMC; intracerebral recording