Summary
Pyramidal tract neurons (PTNs) were identified in precentral motor cortex (MI) and in postcentral cortex (PoC) of a monkey trained to pronate and supinate its forearm. PTN responses to passive, ramp-form displacements of the forearm were examined in relation to the size of the neuron (as reflected by its antidromic latency). Larger PTNs tended to exhibit transient responses to passive limb displacement, whereas smaller PTNs more frequently showed sustained responses. These findings suggest that smaller PTNs, that make up the majority of the total PTN population, receive continuous feedback during posture as well as during the dynamic phase of movement.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Albe-Fessard D, Liebeskind J (1966) Origine des messages somato-sensitifs activant les cellules du cortex moteur chez le singe. Exp Brain Res 1: 127–146
Colburn TR, Evarts EV (1978) Use of brushless DC torque motors in studies of neuromuscular function. In: Desmedt JE (ed) Cerebral motor control in man: long loop mechanisms. Prog clin neurophysiol, vol 4. Basel, Karger, pp 153–166
Coulter JD, Jones EG (1977) Differential distribution of corticospinal projections from individual cytoarchitectonic fields in the monkey. Brain Res 129: 335–340
Evarts EV (1965) Relation of discharge frequency to conduction velocity in pyramidal tract neurons. J Neurophysiol 28: 216–228
Evarts EV (1973) Motor cortex reflexes associated with learned movement. Science 179: 501–503
Evarts EV (1981) Role of motor cortex in voluntary movements in primates. In: Brooks VB (ed) Handbook of Physiology, vol II, Motor Control, part 2. American Physiological Society, Bethesda, Maryland, pp 1083–1120
Evarts EV, Fromm C (1977) Sensory responses in motor cortex neurons during precise motor control. Neurosci Lett 5: 267–272
Evarts EV, Fromm C, Kröller J, Jennings VA (1983) Motor cortex control of finely graded forces. J Neurophysiol 49: 1199–1215
Evarts EV, Tanji J (1976) Reflex and intended response in motor cortex pyramidal tract neurons of monkey. J Neurophysiol 39: 1069–1080
Fetz EE, Finocchio DV, Baker MA, Soso MJ (1980) Sensory and motor responses of precentral cortex cells during comparable passive and active joint movements. J Neurophysiol 43: 1070–1089
Fromm C (1983) Contrasting properties of pyramidal tract neurons located in the precentral or postcentral areas and of corticorubral neurons in the behaving monkey. In: Desmedt JE (ed) Motor control mechanisms in health and disease. Raven Press, New York, pp 329–345
Fromm C, Evarts EV (1981) Relation of size and activity of motor cortex pyramidal tract neurons during skilled movements in the monkey. J Neurosci 1: 453–460
Fromm C, Evarts EV (1982) Pyramidal tract neurons in somatosensory cortex: central and peripheral inputs during voluntary movement. Brain Res 238: 186–191
Gardner EP, Costanzo RM (1981) Properties of kinesthetic neurons in somatosensory cortex of awake monkeys. Brain Res 214: 301–319
Hore J, Preston JB, Durkovic RG, Cheney PD (1976) Responses of cortical neurons (areas 3a and 4) to ramp stretch of hindlimb muscles in the baboon. J Neurophysiol 39: 484–500
Humphrey DR, Corrie WS (1978) Properties of pyramidal tract neurons within a functionally defined subregion of primate motor cortex. J Neurophysiol 41: 216–243
Jennings VA, Lamour Y, Solis H, Fromm C (1983) Somatosensory cortex activity related to position and force. J Neurophysiol 49: 1216–1229
Jones EG, Coulter JD, Hendry SHC (1978) Intracortical connectivity of architectonic fields in the somatic sensory, motor and parietal cortex of monkeys. J Comp Neurol 181: 291–348
Jones EG, Porter R (1980) What is area 3a? Brain Res Rev 2: 1–43
Koike H, Mano N, Okada Y, Oshima T (1970) Repetitive impulses generated in fast and slow pyramidal tract cells by intracellularly-applied current steps. Exp Brain Res 11: 263–281
Kuypers HGJM (1960) Central cortical projections to motor and somatosensory cell groups. Brain 83: 161–184
Lamour Y, Jennings VA, Solis H (1980) Functional characteristics and segregation of cutaneous and non-cutaneous neurons in monkey precentral motor cortex (MI). Soc Neurosci Abstr, vol 6, p 158
Lassek AM (1954) The pyramidal tract. Its status in medicine. Thomas CC, Springfield, Illinois
Lawrence DG, Kuypers HGJM (1968) The functional organization of the motor system in the monkey. I. The effects of bilateral pyramidal lesions. Brain 91: 1–14
Lemon RN, Porter R (1976) Afferent input to movement-related precentral neurons in conscious monkeys. Proc R Soc London Ser B 194: 341–373
Lemon RN (1981) Functional properties of monkey motor cortex neurones receiving afferent input from the hand and fingers. J Physiol (Lond) 311: 497–519
Lucier GE, Rüegg DC, Wiesendanger M (1975) Responses of neurones in motor cortex and in area 3a to controlled stretches of forelimb muscles in Cebus monkeys. J Physiol (Lond) 251: 833–853
McKenna TM, Whitsel BL, Dreyer DA (1982) Anterior parietal cortical topographic organization in macaque monkey: a reevaluation. J Neurophysiol 48: 289–317
Murray EA, Coulter JD (1981) Organization of corticospinal neurons in the monkey. J Comp Neurol 195: 339–365
Murphy JT, Kwan HC, Wong YC (1979) Differential effects of reciprocal wrist torques on responses of somatotopically identified neurons of precentral cortex in awake primates. Brain Res 172: 329–337
Powell TPS, Mountcastle VB (1959) Some aspects of the functional organization of the cortex of the postcentral gyrus of the monkey: A correlation of findings obtained in a single unit analysis with cytoarchitecture. Bull Johns Hopkins Hosp 105: 133–162
Sakai T, Preston JB (1978) Evidence for a transcortical reflex: primate corticospinal tract neuron responses to ramp stretch of muscle. Brain Res 159: 463–467
Soso MJ, Fetz EE (1980) Responses of identified cells in postcentral cortex of awake monkeys during comparable active and passive joint movements. J Neurophysiol 43: 1090–1110
Strick PL, Preston JB (1982) Two representations of the hand in area 4 of a primate.II. Somatosensory input organization. J Neurophysiol 48: 150–159
Tanji J, Kurata K (1983) Responses of pyramidal tract neurons in the postcentral cortex to tactile inputs. Brain Res 273: 352–355
Tanji J, Wise SP (1981) Submodality distribution in the sensorimotor cortex of the unanesthetized monkey. J Neurophysiol 45: 467–481
Wise SP, Tanji J (1981) Neuronal responses in sensorimotor cortex to ramp displacements and maintained positions imposed on the hindlimb of the unanesthetized monkey. J Neurophysiol 45: 482–500
Wolpaw JR (1980a) Correlations between task-related activity and responses to perturbation in primate sensorimotor cortex. J Neurophysiol 44: 1122–1138
Wolpaw JR (1980b) Amplitude of responses to perturbation in primate sensorimotor cortex as a function of task. J Neurophysiol 44: 1139–1147
Wong YC, Kwan HC, MacKay WA, Murphy JT (1978) Spatial organization of precentral cortex in awake primates. I.Somatosensory inputs. J Neurophysiol 41: 1107–1119
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Fromm, C., Wise, S.P. & Evarts, E.V. Sensory response properties of pyramidal tract neurons in the precentral motor cortex and postcentral gyrus of the rhesus monkey. Exp Brain Res 54, 177–185 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235829
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00235829