Neuronal dynamics of signal selective motor plan cancellation in the macaque dorsal premotor cortex

Abstract

Primates adopt various strategies to interact with the environment. Yet, no study has examined the effects of behavioral strategies with regard to how movement inhibition is implemented at the neuronal level. We modified a classical approach to study movement control (stop-task) by adding an extra signal - termed the Ignore signal - which influenced movement inhibition only under a specific strategy. We simultaneously recorded multisite neuronal activity from the dorsal premotor (PMd) cortex of macaque monkeys during a task and applied a state-space approach. As a result, we found that movement generation is characterized by neuronal dynamics that evolve between subspaces. When the movement is halted, this evolution is arrested and inverted. Conversely, when the Ignore signal is presented, inversion of the evolution is observed briefly and only when a specific behavioral strategy is adopted. Moreover, neuronal signatures during the inhibitory process were predictive of how PMd processes inhibitory signals, allowing the classification of the resulting behavioral strategy. Our data corroborate the PMd as a critical node in movement inhibition.