Relative influence of gaze and static arm position in the Superior Parietal Lobule of the macaque monkey during reaching

Tabanelli, Marta (2023) Relative influence of gaze and static arm position in the Superior Parietal Lobule of the macaque monkey during reaching, [Dissertation thesis], Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna. Dottorato di ricerca in Scienze biomediche e neuromotorie, 35 Ciclo. DOI 10.48676/unibo/amsdottorato/10614.
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Abstract

The superior parietal lobule (SPL) of macaques is classically described as an associative cortex implicated in visuospatial perception, planning and control of reaching and grasping movements (De Vitis et al., 2019; Galletti et al., 2003, 2018, 2022; Fattori et al., 2017; Hadjidimitrakis et al., 2015). These processes are the result of the integration of signals related to different sensory modalities. During a goal-directed action, eye and limb information are combined to ensure that the hand is transported at the gazed target location and the arm is maintained steady in the final position. The SPL areas V6A, PEc and PE contain cells sensitive to the direction of gaze and limb position but less is known about the degree of independent encoding of these signals. In this thesis, we evaluated the influence of eye and arm position information upon single neuron activity of areas V6A, PEc and PE during the holding period after the execution of arm reaching movement, when the gaze and hand are both still at the reach target. Two male macaques (Macaca fascicularis) performed a reaching task while single unit activity was recorded from areas V6A, PEc and PE. We found that neurons in all these areas were modulated by eye and static arm positions with a joint encoding of gaze and somatosensory signals in V6A and PEc and a mostly separate processing of the two signals in PE. The elaboration of this information reflects the functional gradient found in the SPL with the caudal sector characterized by visuo-somatic properties in comparison to the rostral sector dominated by somatosensory signals. This evidence well agree also with the recent reallocation of areas V6A and PEc in Brodmann’s area 7 depending on their similar structural and functional features with respect to PE belonging to Brodmann’s area 5 (Gamberini et al., 2020).

Abstract
Tipologia del documento
Tesi di dottorato
Autore
Tabanelli, Marta
Supervisore
Co-supervisore
Dottorato di ricerca
Ciclo
35
Coordinatore
Settore disciplinare
Settore concorsuale
Parole chiave
gaze; posterior parietal cortex; proprioception; reaching movements; superior parietal lobule; visuomotor integration
URN:NBN
DOI
10.48676/unibo/amsdottorato/10614
Data di discussione
30 Marzo 2023
URI

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