Neuron
Volume 101, Issue 6, 20 March 2019, Pages 1166-1180.e3
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Article
Neural Competitive Queuing of Ordinal Structure Underlies Skilled Sequential Action

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2019.01.018Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Non-invasive recordings in humans show “competitive queuing” of upcoming actions

  • Queuing gradient mainly reflects a high-level template of sequence position

  • Queuing gradient originates in ipsilateral parahippocampal and cerebellar areas

  • Strength of queuing gradient predicts production accuracy

Summary

Fluent retrieval and execution of movement sequences is essential for daily activities, but the neural mechanisms underlying sequence planning remain elusive. Here participants learned finger press sequences with different orders and timings and reproduced them in a magneto-encephalography (MEG) scanner. We classified the MEG patterns for each press in the sequence and examined pattern dynamics during preparation and production. Our results demonstrate the “competitive queuing” (CQ) of upcoming action representations, extending previous computational and non-human primate recording studies to non-invasive measures in humans. In addition, we show that CQ reflects an ordinal template that generalizes across specific motor actions at each position. Finally, we demonstrate that CQ predicts participants’ production accuracy and originates from parahippocampal and cerebellar sources. These results suggest that the brain learns and controls multiple sequences by flexibly combining representations of specific actions and interval timing with high-level, parallel representations of sequence position.

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