Visuomotor prediction during action planning in the human frontoparietal cortex and cerebellum

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Abstract

The concept of forward models in the brain, classically applied to describing on-line motor control, can in principle be extended to action planning, i.e. assuming forward sensory predictions are issued during the mere preparation of movements. To test this idea, we combined a delayed movement task with a virtual reality based manipulation of visuomotor congruence during functional magnetic resonance imaging. Participants executed simple hand movements after a delay. During the delay, two aspects of the upcoming movement could be cued: the movement type and the visuomotor mapping (i.e. congruence of executed hand movements and visual movement feedback by a glove-controlled virtual hand). Frontoparietal areas showed increased delay period activity when preparing pre-specified movements (cued > uncued). The cerebellum showed increased activity during the preparation for incongruent > congruent visuomotor mappings. The left anterior intraparietal sulcus showed an interaction effect, responding most strongly when a pre-specified (cued) movement was prepared under expected visuomotor incongruence. These results suggest that motor planning entails a forward prediction of visual body movement feedback, which can be adjusted in anticipation of nonstandard visuomotor mappings, and which is likely computed by the cerebellum and integrated with state estimates for (planned) control in the anterior intraparietal sulcus.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article numberbhae382
JournalCerebral cortex
Volume34
Issue number9
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2024
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

PubMed 39325000

Keywords

Keywords

  • action planning, cerebellum, fMRI, posterior parietal cortex, sensory prediction