Cortical inhibition (CI) is measured by transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) combined with electromyography (EMG) through long-interval CI (LICI) and cortical silent period (CSP) paradigms. Recently, we illustrated that LICI can be measured from the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) through combined TMS with electroencephalography (EEG). We further demonstrated that LICI had different e...

The present study describes the cortical input into the motor cortical larynx area. The retrograde tracer horseradish peroxidase-conjugated wheat germ agglutinin was injected into the electrophysiologically identified motor cortical larynx area in three rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta). Retrogradely labeled cells were found in the surrounding premotor cortex (areas 6V and 6D), primary motor cort...

Dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area, the major midbrain nucleus projecting to the motor cortex, play a key role in motor skill learning and motor cortex synaptic plasticity. Dopamine D1 and D2 receptor antagonists exert parallel effects in the motor system: they impair motor skill learning and reduce long-term potentiation. Traditionally, D1 and D2 receptor modulate adenylyl cycl...

In humans, the midline primary motor cortex is active during walking. However, the exact role of such cortical participation is unknown. To delineate the role of the primary motor cortex in walking, we examined whether the primary motor cortex would activate leg muscles during movements that retained specific requirements of walking (i.e., locomotive actions). We recorded electroencephalographi...

When neurons within the motor cortex are fatally injured, their axons, many of which project into the spinal cord, undergo wallerian degeneration. Pathological processes occurring downstream of the cortical damage have not been extensively studied. We created a focal forelimb motor cortex injury in rats and found that axons from cell bodies located in the hindlimb motor cortex (spared by the co...

Accumulating evidence demonstrates that responses in auditory cortex to auditory consequences of self-generated actions are modified relative to the responses evoked by identical sounds generated by an external source. Such modifications have been suggested to occur through a corollary discharge sent from the motor system, although the exact neuroanatomical origin is unknown. Furthermore, since...

Seminal work in animals indicates that learning a motor task results in long-term potentiation (LTP) in primary motor cortex (M1) and a subsequent occlusion of LTP induction (Rioult-Pedotti et al. J Neurophysiol 98: 3688-3695, 2007). Using various forms of noninvasive brain stimulation in conjunction with a motor learning paradigm, Cantarero et al. (J Neurosci 33: 12862-12869, 2013) recently pr...

This study was designed to investigate the effect of single pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) on the isochronic performance of sequential movements which were recorded using a digitising pad. Magnetic stimulation was applied through an 8-shaped magnetic coil over primary motor and premotor cortex at a specific time point while executing the first of a three movement sequence. TMS ap...

Tactile information is actively acquired and processed in the brain through concerted interactions between movement and sensation. Somatosensory input is often the result of self-generated movement during the active touch of objects, and conversely, sensory information is used to refine motor control. There must therefore be important interactions between sensory and motor pathways, which we ch...