Action Monitoring and Medial Frontal Cortex: Leading Role of Supplementary Motor Area

Science ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 343 (6173) ◽  
pp. 888-891 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Bonini ◽  
B. Burle ◽  
C. Liegeois-Chauvel ◽  
J. Regis ◽  
P. Chauvel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Supplementary Motor Area ◽  
Motor Area ◽  
Medial Frontal Cortex ◽  
Action Monitoring ◽  
Leading Role

scholarly journals Performance monitoring by presupplementary and supplementary motor area during an arm movement countermanding task

2013 ◽  
Vol 109 (7) ◽  
pp. 1928-1939 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine W. Scangos ◽  
Ryan Aronberg ◽  
Veit Stuphorn
Keyword(s):  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Performance Monitoring ◽  
Supplementary Motor Area ◽  
Motor Behavior ◽  
Arm Movement ◽  
Motor Area ◽  
Medial Frontal Cortex ◽  
General Role ◽  
Actual Outcome ◽  
Movement Selection

A key component of executive control and decision making is the ability to use the consequences of chosen actions to update and inform the process of future action selection. Evaluative signals, which monitor the outcomes of actions, are critical for this ability. Signals related to the evaluation of actions have been identified in eye movement-related areas of the medial frontal cortex. Here we examined whether such evaluative signals are also present in areas of the medial frontal cortex related to arm movements. To answer this question, we recorded from cells in the supplementary motor area (SMA) and pre-SMA, while monkeys performed an arm movement version of the countermanding paradigm. SMA and pre-SMA have been implicated in the higher-order control of movement selection and execution, although their precise role within the skeletomotor control circuit is unclear. We found evaluative signals that encode information about the expected outcome of the reward, the actual outcome, and the mismatch between actual and intended outcome. These findings suggest that signals that monitor and evaluate movement outcomes are represented throughout the medial frontal cortex, playing a general role across effector systems. These evaluation signals supervise the relationship between intentional motor behavior and reward expectation and could be used to adaptively shape future goal-directed behavior.

scholarly journals Effects of Local Inactivation of Monkey Medial Frontal Cortex in Learning of Sequential Procedures

1999 ◽  
Vol 82 (2) ◽  
pp. 1063-1068 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kae Nakamura ◽  
Katsuyuki Sakai ◽  
Okihide Hikosaka
Keyword(s):  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Supplementary Motor Area ◽  
Medial Frontal Cortex ◽  
Button Press ◽  
Sequential Movements ◽  
Sequential Procedures ◽  
Fixed Order ◽  
And Control ◽  
Differential Contribution

To examine the role of the medial frontal cortex, supplementary motor area (SMA), and pre-SMA in the acquisition and control of sequential movements, we locally injected muscimol into 43 sites in the medial frontal cortex while monkeys (n = 2) performed a sequential button-press task. In this task, the monkey had to press two of 16 (4 × 4 matrix) buttons illuminated simultaneously in a predetermined order. A total of five pairs were presented in a fixed order for completion of a trial. To clarify the differential contribution of the medial frontal cortex for new acquisition and control of sequential movements, we used novel and learned sequences (that had been learned after extensive practice). We found that the number of errors increased for novel sequences, but not for learned sequences, after pre-SMA inactivations. A similar, but insignificant, trend was observed after SMA injections. The reaction time of button presses for both novel and learned sequences was prolonged by inactivations of both SMA and pre-SMA, with a trend for the effect to be larger for SMA inactivations. These findings suggest that the medial frontal cortex, especially pre-SMA, is related to the acquisition, rather than the storage or execution, of the correct order of button presses.

scholarly journals Loss of phosphodiesterase 4 in Parkinson disease

Neurology ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 89 (6) ◽  
pp. 586-593 ◽  
Author(s):  
Flavia Niccolini ◽  
Heather Wilson ◽  
Gennaro Pagano ◽  
Christopher Coello ◽  
Mitul A. Mehta ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Parkinson Disease ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Supplementary Motor Area ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Motor Area ◽  
Medial Frontal Cortex ◽  
Healthy Controls ◽  
Thalamic Nuclei ◽  
Phosphodiesterase 4

Objective:To assess in vivo the expression of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4) and its relevance to cognitive symptoms in patients with Parkinson disease (PD) using [11C]rolipram PET.Methods:We studied 12 levodopa-treated patients with PD with no concurrent diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or dementia. Their data were compared with those from 12 healthy controls. All participants underwent neuropsychiatric and cognitive assessment using the Cambridge Neuropsychological Test Automated Battery. Parametric images of [11C]rolipram volume of distribution (VT) values were determined with the Logan plot.Results:Patients with PD performed worse than healthy controls in cognitive examinations assessing psychomotor speed, episodic memory, and spatial working memory and executive function. Patients with PD showed reductions in [11C]rolipram VT compared to healthy controls, in the caudate (28%), thalamus (23%), hypothalamus (32%), and cortex (16%). Within thalamic subregions, [11C]rolipram VT values in patients with PD were decreased by 12%–32%, with most marked decreases observed in prefrontal and temporal thalamic nuclei, whereas motor nuclei were less affected. Within the cortex, [11C]rolipram VT values in patients with PD were decreased by 11%–20%, with most marked decreases observed in posterior dorsolateral frontal cortex, medial frontal cortex, and supplementary motor area, whereas orbitofrontal cortex was less affected. Worse performance in spatial working memory correlated with lower [11C]rolipram VT values in posterior dorsolateral frontal cortex, medial frontal cortex, supplementary motor area, precentral gyrus, caudate, and prefrontal thalamic nuclei.Conclusions:Our findings demonstrate loss of PDE4 expression in the striato-thalamo-cortical circuit, which is associated with deficits of spatial working memory in patients with PD.

scholarly journals Free will and neurosurgical resections of the supplementary motor area: a critical review

2021 ◽  
Vol 163 (5) ◽  
pp. 1229-1237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rickard L Sjöberg
Keyword(s):  
Executive Function ◽  
Free Will ◽  
Corticospinal Tract ◽  
Supplementary Motor Area ◽  
Personal Responsibility ◽  
Motor Area ◽  
Simple Motor ◽  
Motor Actions ◽  
Intense Debate

Abstract Background Research suggests that unconscious activity in the supplementary motor area (SMA) precedes not only certain simple motor actions but also the point at which we become aware of our intention to perform such actions. The extent to which these findings have implications for our understanding of the concepts of free will and personal responsibility has been subject of intense debate during the latest four decades. Methods This research is discussed in relation to effects of neurosurgical removal of the SMA in a narrative review. Results Removal of the SMA typically causes a transient inability to perform non-stimulus-driven, voluntary actions. This condition, known as the SMA syndrome, does not appear to be associated with a loss of sense of volition but with a profound disruption of executive function/cognitive control. Conclusions The role of the SMA may be to serve as a gateway between the corticospinal tract and systems for executive function. Such systems are typically seen as tools for conscious decisions. What is known about effects of SMA resections would thus seem to suggest a view that is compatible with concepts of personal responsibility. However, the philosophical question whether free will exists cannot be definitely resolved on the basis of these observations.

scholarly journals Role of the supplementary motor area during reproduction of supra-second time intervals: An intracerebral EEG study

NeuroImage ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 191 ◽  
pp. 403-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Micha Pfeuty ◽  
Vincent Monfort ◽  
Madelyne Klein ◽  
Julien Krieg ◽  
Steffie Collé ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Supplementary Motor Area ◽  
Motor Area ◽  
Time Intervals ◽  
Intracerebral Eeg

Role of the Human Rostral Supplementary Motor Area and the Basal Ganglia in Motor Sequence Control: Investigations With H2 15O PET

1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (2) ◽  
pp. 1070-1080 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Boecker ◽  
A. Dagher ◽  
A. O. Ceballos-Baumann ◽  
R. E. Passingham ◽  
M. Samuel ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Basal Ganglia ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Supplementary Motor Area ◽  
Motor Area ◽  
Anterior Cingulate ◽  
Central Control ◽  
Motor Sequence ◽  
Finger Movements ◽  
Sequence Complexity

Boecker, H., A. Dagher, A. O. Ceballos-Baumann, R. E. Passingham, M. Samuel, K. J. Friston, J.-B. Poline, C. Dettmers, B. Conrad, and D. J. Brooks. Role of the human rostral supplementary motor area and the basal ganglia in motor sequence control: investigations with H2 15O PET. J. Neurophysiol. 79: 1070–1080, 1998. The aim of this study was to investigate the functional anatomy of distributed cortical and subcortical motor areas in the human brain that participate in the central control of overlearned complex sequential unimanual finger movements. On the basis of previous research in nonhuman primates, a principal involvement of basal ganglia (medial premotor loops) was predicted for central control of finger sequences performed automatically. In pertinent areas, a correlation of activation levels with the complexity of a motor sequence was hypothesized. H2 15O positron emission tomography (PET) was used in a group of seven healthy male volunteers [mean age 32.0 ± 10.4 yr] to determine brain regions where levels of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) correlated with graded complexity levels of five different key-press sequences. All sequences were overlearned before PET and involved key-presses of fingers II–V of the right hand. Movements of individual fingers were kept constant throughout all five conditions by external pacing at 1-Hz intervals. Positive correlations of rCBF with increasing sequence complexity were identified in the contralateral rostral supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) and the associated pallido-thalamic loop, as well as in right parietal area 7 and ipsilateral primary motor cortex (M1). In contrast, while rCBF in contralateral M1 and and extensive parts of caudal SMA was increased compared with rest during task performance, significant correlated increases of rCBF with sequence complexity were not observed. Inverse correlations of rCBF with increasing sequence complexity were identified in mesial prefrontal-, medial temporal-, and anterior cingulate areas. The findings provide further evidence in humans supporting the notion of a segregation of SMA into functionally distinct subcomponents: although pre-SMA was differentially activated depending on the complexity of a sequence of learned finger movements, such modulation was not detectable in caudal SMA (except the most antero-superior part), implicating a motor executive role. Our observations of complexity-correlated rCBF increases in anterior globus palllidus suggest a specific role for the basal ganglia in the process of sequence facilitation and control. They may act to filter and focus input from motor cortical areas as patterns of action become increasingly complex.

Top–Down Inhibitory Control Exerted by the Medial Frontal Cortex during Action Selection under Conflict

2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (10) ◽  
pp. 1634-1648 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Duque ◽  
Etienne Olivier ◽  
Matthew Rushworth
Keyword(s):  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Single Pulse ◽  
Medial Frontal Cortex ◽  
Button Press ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Motor Representation ◽  
Visuomotor Task ◽  
Response Alternatives

Top–down control is critical to select goal-directed actions in changeable environments, particularly when several conflicting options compete for selection. In humans, this control system is thought to involve an inhibitory mechanism that suppresses the motor representation of unwanted responses to favor selection of the most appropriate action. Here, we aimed to evaluate the role of a region of the medial frontal cortex, the pre-SMA, in this form of inhibition by using a double coil TMS protocol combining repetitive TMS (rTMS) over the pre-SMA and a single-pulse TMS over the primary motor cortex (M1) during a visuomotor task that required participants to choose between a left or right button press according to an imperative cue. M1 stimulation allowed us to assess changes in motor excitability related to selected and nonselected (unwanted) actions, and rTMS was used to produce transient disruption of pre-SMA functioning. We found that when rTMS was applied over pre-SMA, inhibition of the nonselected movement representation was reduced. Importantly, this effect was only observed when the imperative cue produced a substantial amount of competition between the response alternatives. These results are consistent with previous studies pointing to a role of pre-SMA in competition resolution. In addition, our findings indicate that this function of pre-SMA involves the control of inhibitory influences directed at unwanted action representations.

scholarly journals The role of the pre-supplementary motor area in the control of action

NeuroImage ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. T155-T163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parashkev Nachev ◽  
Henrietta Wydell ◽  
Kevin O’Neill ◽  
Masud Husain ◽  
Christopher Kennard
Keyword(s):  
Supplementary Motor Area ◽  
Motor Area
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