TY - JOUR T1 - The extrastriate body area computes desired goal states during action planning JF - eneuro JO - eneuro DO - 10.1523/ENEURO.0020-16.2016 SP - ENEURO.0020-16.2016 AU - Marius Zimmermann AU - Lennart Verhagen AU - Floris P. de Lange AU - Ivan Toni Y1 - 2016/03/28 UR - http://www.eneuro.org/content/early/2016/03/25/ENEURO.0020-16.2016.abstract N2 - How do object perception and action interact at a neural level? Here we test the hypothesis that perceptual features, processed by the ventral visuo-perceptual stream, are used as priors by the dorsal visuo-motor stream to specify goal-directed grasping actions. We present three main findings, obtained by combining time-resolved transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) 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, EBA’s contributions are earlier in time than those of a caudal intraparietal region known to specify the action plan. Third, EBA’s contributions 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.Significance Statement: It has long been recognized that there must be interactions between the dorsal and ventral cortical streams of visual information processing, but it remains unclear how and when these interactions occur. By studying goal-oriented movements involving the manipulation of an object, we show that the extrastriate body area (EBA), a region in the ventral visuo-perceptual stream, provides the dorsal visuo-motor stream with a representation of a desired goal-state, before the dorsal visuo-motor stream specifies the motor plan. These findings suggest that perceptual processing, as implemented in the EBA, has functional precedence over visuo-motor processing during the selection of goal-oriented movements. ER -