scholarly journals Do monkey F5 mirror neurons show changes in firing rate during repeated observation of natural actions?

2014 ◽  
Vol 111 (6) ◽  
pp. 1214-1226 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. M. Kilner ◽  
A. Kraskov ◽  
R. N. Lemon
Keyword(s):  
Firing Rate ◽  
Mirror Neurons ◽  
Action Observation ◽  
Precision Grip ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Bold Signal ◽  
Reach To Grasp ◽  
Macaque Monkeys ◽  
Repeated Observation ◽  
Fmri Adaptation

Mirror neurons were first discovered in area F5 of macaque monkeys. In humans, noninvasive studies have demonstrated an increased blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signal in homologous motor areas during action observation. One approach to demonstrating that this indicates the existence of mirror neurons in humans has been to employ functional (f)MRI adaptation to test whether the same population of neurons is active during both observation and execution conditions. Although a number of human studies have reported fMRI adaptation in these areas, a recent study has shown that macaque mirror neurons do not attenuate their firing rate with two repetitions. Here we investigated whether mirror neurons modulate their firing rate when monkeys observed the same repeated natural action multiple times. We recorded from 67 mirror neurons in area F5 of two macaque monkeys while they observed an experimenter perform a reach-to-grasp action on a small food reward using a precision grip. Although no changes were detectable for the first two repetitions, we show that both the firing rate and the latency at which mirror neurons discharged during observation were subtly modulated by the repetition of the observed action over 7–10 trials. Significant adaption was mostly found in the period immediately before the grasp was performed. We also found that the local field potential activity in F5 (beta-frequency range, 16–23 Hz), which is attenuated during action observation, also showed systematic changes with repeated observation. These LFP changes occurred well in advance of the mirror neuron adaptation. We conclude that macaque mirror neurons can show intra-modal adaptation, but whether this is related to fMRI adaptation of the BOLD signal requires further investigation.

scholarly journals Movement initiation and grasp representation in premotor and primary motor cortex mirror neurons

eLife ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven Jack Jerjian ◽  
Maneesh Sahani ◽  
Alexander Kraskov
Keyword(s):  
Mirror Neurons ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Action Observation ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Movement Control ◽  
Population Level ◽  
Reach To Grasp ◽  
Movement Initiation ◽  
Population Activity ◽  
Spinal Circuitry

Pyramidal tract neurons (PTNs) within macaque rostral ventral premotor cortex (F5) and (M1) provide direct input to spinal circuitry and are critical for skilled movement control. Contrary to initial hypotheses, they can also be active during action observation, in the absence of any movement. A population-level understanding of this phenomenon is currently lacking. We recorded from single neurons, including identified PTNs, in (M1) (n = 187), and F5 (n = 115) as two adult male macaques executed, observed, or withheld (NoGo) reach-to-grasp actions. F5 maintained a similar representation of grasping actions during both execution and observation. In contrast, although many individual M1 neurons were active during observation, M1 population activity was distinct from execution, and more closely aligned to NoGo activity, suggesting this activity contributes to withholding of self-movement. M1 and its outputs may dissociate initiation of movement from representation of grasp in order to flexibly guide behaviour.

scholarly journals Movement initiation and grasp representation in premotor and primary motor cortex mirror neurons

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerjian S.J. ◽  
Sahani M. ◽  
Kraskov A.
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Mirror Neurons ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Action Observation ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Movement Control ◽  
Reach To Grasp ◽  
Movement Initiation ◽  
Population Activity ◽  
Ventral Premotor Cortex

AbstractPyramidal tract neurons (PTNs) within macaque rostral ventral premotor cortex (F5) and primary motor cortex (M1) provide direct input to spinal circuitry and are critical for skilled movement control, but surprisingly, can also be active during passive action observation. We recorded from single neurons, including identified PTNs in the hand and arm area of primary motor cortex (M1) (n=189), and in premotor area F5 (n=115) of two adult male macaques, while they executed, observed, or simply withheld (NoGo) reach-to-grasp and hold actions. We found that F5 maintains a more sustained, similar representation of grasping actions during both execution and observation. In contrast, although some M1 neurons mirrored during the grasp and hold, M1 population activity during observation contained signatures of a withholding state. This suggests that M1 and its output may dissociates signals required for the initiation of movement from those associated with the representation of grasp in order to flexibly guide behaviour.Significance StatementVentral premotor cortex (area F5) maintains a similar representation of grasping actions during both execution and observation. Primary motor cortex and its outputs dissociate between movement and non-movement states.

scholarly journals Is there an intrinsic relationship between LFP beta oscillation amplitude and firing rate of individual neurons in monkey motor cortex?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Confais ◽  
Nicole Malfait ◽  
Thomas Brochier ◽  
Alexa Riehle ◽  
Bjørg Elisabeth Kilavik
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Firing Rate ◽  
Oscillation Amplitude ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Spike Rate ◽  
Behavioral Task ◽  
Beta Oscillations ◽  
Macaque Monkeys ◽  
Local Field Potential Lfp ◽  
Beta Oscillation

ABSTRACTIt is a long-standing controversial issue whether an intrinsic relationship between the local field potential (LFP) beta oscillation amplitude and the spike rate of individual neurons in the motor cortex exists. Beta oscillations are prominent in motor cortical LFPs, and their relationship to the local neuronal spiking activity has been extensively studied. Many studies demonstrated that the spikes of individual neurons lock to the phase of LFP beta oscillations. However, the results concerning whether there is also an intrinsic relationship between the amplitude of LFP beta oscillations and the firing rate of individual neurons are contradictory. Some studies suggest a systematic mapping of spike rates onto LFP beta amplitude, and others find no systematic relationship. To resolve this controversy, we correlated the amplitude of LFP beta oscillations recorded in motor cortex of two male macaque monkeys with spike counts of individual neurons during visuomotor behavior, in two different manners. First, in an analysis termed task-related correlation, data obtained across all behavioral task epochs was included. These task-related correlations were frequently significant, and in majority of negative sign. Second, in an analysis termed trial-by-trial correlation, only data from a fixed pre-cue task epoch was included, and correlations were calculated across trials. Such trial-by-trial correlations were weak and rarely significant. We conclude that there is no intrinsic relationship between the firing rate of individual neurons and LFP beta oscillation amplitude in macaque motor cortex, beyond each of these signals being modulated by external factors such as the behavioral task.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENTWe addressed the long-standing controversial issue of whether there is an intrinsic relationship between the local field potential (LFP) beta oscillation amplitude and the spike rate of individual neurons in the motor cortex. In two complementary analyses of data from macaque monkeys, we first demonstrate that the unfolding behavioral task strongly affects both the LFP beta amplitude and the neuronal spike rate, creating task-related correlations between the two signals. However, when limiting the influence of the task, by restricting our analysis to a fixed task epoch, correlations between the two signals were largely eliminated. We conclude that there is no intrinsic relationship between the firing rate of individual neurons and LFP beta oscillation amplitude in motor cortex.

Embodied Resonance

2018 ◽  
pp. 416-432
Author(s):  
Vittorio Gallese ◽  
Corrado Sinigaglia
Keyword(s):  
Social Cognition ◽  
Mirror Neurons ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
Mental Simulation ◽  
Action Execution ◽  
Brain Areas ◽  
Embodied Simulation ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Macaque Monkeys

Mental simulation was claimed to provide a distinctive way of gaining knowledge about others’ actions and thoughts since the late 1980s. A decade later, the discovery of mirror neurons in macaque monkeys and the evidence of mirror brain areas in humans presented a new angle on this claim, suggesting also an embodied approach to simulation. The aim of the present chapter is to introduce and discuss this embodied approach and its role in basic social cognition. In doing this, we shall start by characterizing the distinctive features of embodied simulation (ES), especially in relation to its its motor aspects. Then, we shall provide evidence for the claim that ES may be critically involved in understanding others’ actions. Finally, we shall explore the conjecture that ES might involve a common ground for action execution and observation not only at the functional but also at the phenomenological level.

scholarly journals fMRI Adaptation between Action Observation and Action Execution Reveals Cortical Areas with Mirror Neuron Properties in Human BA 44/45

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan de la Rosa ◽  
Frieder L. Schillinger ◽  
Heinrich H. Bülthoff ◽  
Johannes Schultz ◽  
Kamil Uludag
Keyword(s):  
Action Observation ◽  
Mirror Neuron ◽  
Action Execution ◽  
Cortical Areas ◽  
Fmri Adaptation

scholarly journals Time-dependent modulation of spinal excitability during action observation in the macaque monkey

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.J. Jerjian ◽  
R.N. Lemon ◽  
A. Kraskov
Keyword(s):  
Pyramidal Tract ◽  
Rhesus Macaques ◽  
Action Observation ◽  
Macaque Monkey ◽  
Reach To Grasp ◽  
Hand Muscles ◽  
Spinal Circuitry ◽  
Hand Muscle ◽  
Spinal Excitability ◽  
Muscle Responses

ABSTRACTNeurons in the primate motor cortex, including identified pyramidal tract neurons projecting to the spinal cord, respond to the observation of others’ actions, yet this does not cause movement in the observer. Here, we investigated changes in spinal excitability during action observation by monitoring short latency electromyographic responses produced by single shocks delivered directly to the pyramidal tract. Responses in hand and digit muscles were recorded from two adult rhesus macaques while they performed, observed or withheld reach-to-grasp and hold actions. We found modest grasp-specific facilitation of hand muscle responses during hand shaping for grasp, which persisted when the grasp was predictable but obscured from the monkey’s vision. We also found evidence of a more general inhibition before observed movement onset, and the size of this inhibition effect was comparable to the inhibition after an explicit NoGo signal. These results confirm that the spinal circuitry controlling hand muscles is modulated during action observation, and this may be driven by internal representations of actions. The relatively modest changes in spinal excitability during observation suggest net corticospinal outflow exerts only minor, sub-threshold changes on hand motoneuron pools, thereby preventing any overflow of mirror activity into overt movement.

Action observation therapy in pediatric patients with neuromotor deficits of the upper limbs secondary to central nervous system tumors

2019 ◽  
Vol 105 (6) ◽  
pp. NP75-NP78
Author(s):  
Marco Chisari ◽  
Raffaella Sensi ◽  
Carlo Alfredo Clerici ◽  
Fulvia Angela Gariboldi ◽  
Filippo Spreafico ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Nervous System ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Mirror Neurons ◽  
Action Observation ◽  
Case Series ◽  
Central Nervous System Tumor ◽  
Assessment Tests ◽  
System Tumor ◽  
Positive Results

This study reports a case series of patients with upper limb neuromotor deficits following pediatric central nervous system tumor and treated with rehabilitative therapy according to action observation therapy (AOT). AOT is based on the “mirror neurons” system and had positive results in various non-oncologic neurologic pathologies. This study is the first experience in the oncology field, and included 6 patients, 4 of whom were fully evaluated at 6-month follow-up. In all patients, therapy showed improvement in all assessment tests. These promising results lead to further studies to confirm their effectiveness.

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