title: Inferior frontal gyrus links visual and motor cortices during a visuomotor precision grip force task.
abstract: Coordination between vision and action relies on a fronto-parietal network that receives visual and proprioceptive sensory input in order to compute motor control signals. Here, we investigated with magnetoencephalography (MEG) which cortical areas are functionally coupled on the basis of synchronization during visuomotor integration. MEG signals were recorded from twelve healthy adults while performing a unimanual visuomotor (VM) task and control conditions. The VM task required the integration of pinch motor commands with visual sensory feedback. By using a beamformer, we localized the neural activity in the frequency range of 1-30Hz during the VM compared to rest. Virtual sensors were estimated at the active locations. A multivariate autoregressive model was used to estimate the power and coherence of estimated activity at the virtual sensors. Event-related desynchronisation (ERD) during VM was observed in early visual areas, the rostral part of the left inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), the right IFG, the superior parietal lobules, and the left hand motor cortex (M1). Functional coupling in the alpha frequency band bridged the regional activities observed in motor and visual cortices (the start and the end points in the visuomotor loop) through the left or right IFG. Coherence between the left IFG and left M1 correlated inversely with the task performance. Our results indicate that an occipital-prefrontal-motor functional network facilitates the modulation of instructed motor responses to visual cues. This network may supplement the mechanism for guiding actions that is fully incorporated into the dorsal visual stream.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Functional Neuroimaging, Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Via delle Regole 101, 38123 Mattarello, Italy. Electronic address: christos.papadelis@childrens.harvard.edu.
authors.forename: Christos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Papadelis
authors.affiliation: MEG Center, University of Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Str 47, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Carola
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Arfeller
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Functional Neuroimaging, Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Via delle Regole 101, 38123 Mattarello, Italy; Biophysics and Biosignals Lab, Department of Physics & Biotech, University of Trento, Via delle Regole 101, 38123 Mattarello, Italy.
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Erla
authors.affiliation: Biophysics and Biosignals Lab, Department of Physics & Biotech, University of Trento, Via delle Regole 101, 38123 Mattarello, Italy.
authors.forename: Giandomenico
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Nollo
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Functional Neuroimaging, Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Via delle Regole 101, 38123 Mattarello, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cattaneo
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Functional Neuroimaging, Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Via delle Regole 101, 38123 Mattarello, Italy; MEG Center, University of Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Str 47, 72076 Tübingen, Germany; Werner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscience (CIN) at the University of Tübingen, Otfried-Müller-Str. 25, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Braun
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006225:Hand / Q000502:physiology; D018737:Hand Strength; D006801:Humans; D015225:Magnetoencephalography / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Coherence; Functional connectivity; Inferior frontal gyrus; Magnetoencephalography; Visuomotor integration