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FMRI evidence for a 'parietal reach region' in the human brain

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Abstract

Event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine activation in the posterior parietal cortex when subjects made pointing movements or saccades to the same spatial location. One region, well positioned to be homologous to the monkey parietal reach region (PRR), responded preferentially during memory-delay trials in which the subject planned to point to a specific location as compared to trials in which the subject planned to make a saccade to that same location. We therefore conclude that activation in this region is related to specific motor intent; i.e. it encodes information related to the subject's intention to make a specific movement to a particular spatial location.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Canada Research Chairs Program to M.A. Goodale.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CIHR Group on Action and Perception, Department of Psychology, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, N6A 5C2, Canada

    Jason D. Connolly & Melvyn A. Goodale

  2. Division of Biology, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA

    Richard A. Andersen

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  1. Jason D. Connolly
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  2. Richard A. Andersen
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  3. Melvyn A. Goodale
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Correspondence to Melvyn A. Goodale.

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Connolly, J.D., Andersen, R.A. & Goodale, M.A. FMRI evidence for a 'parietal reach region' in the human brain. Exp Brain Res 153, 140–145 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-003-1587-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00221-003-1587-1

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