Authors:

Zimmermann M; Verhagen L; de Lange FP; Toni I. Institution Zimmermann, Marius. Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Karolinska Institute, 17177 Stockholm, Sweden. Verhagen, Lennart. Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands; Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3UD, United Kingdom; Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6500 HB Nijmegen, The Netherlands. de Lange, Floris P. Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen , 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands. Toni, Ivan. Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen , 6525 EN Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Title:

The Extrastriate Body Area Computes Desired Goal States during Action Planning.

Source:

Eneuro. 3(2), 2016 Mar-Apr.

Abstract:

How do object perception and action interact at a neural level? Here we test the hypothesis that perceptual features, processed by the ventral visuoperceptual stream, are used as priors by the dorsal visuomotor stream to specify goal-directed grasping actions. We present three main findings, which were obtained by combining time-resolved transcranial magnetic stimulation and kinematic tracking of grasp-and-rotate object manipulations, in a group of healthy human participants (N = 22). First, the extrastriate body area (EBA), in the ventral stream, provides an initial structure to motor plans, based on current and desired states of a grasped object and of the grasping hand. Second, the contributions of EBA are earlier in time than those of a caudal intraparietal region known to specify the action plan. Third, the contributions of EBA are particularly important when desired and current object configurations differ, and multiple courses of actions are possible. These findings specify the temporal and functional characteristics for a mechanism that integrates perceptual processing with motor planning.

Publication Type:

Journal Article. Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov’t.