The motor system generates time-varying commands to move our limbs and body. Conventional descriptions of motor control and learning rely on dynamical representations of our body's state (forward and inverse models), and control policies that must be integrated forward to generate feedforward time-varying commands; thus these are representations across space, but not time. Here we examine a new...

Skilled individuals are characterized by fine-tuned perceptual and motor functions. Here, we tested the idea that the sensory and motor functions of highly-trained individuals are coupled. We assessed the relationships among multifaceted somatosensory and motor functions of expert pianists. The results demonstrated a positive covariation between the acuity of weight discrimination and the preci...

Broca's region in the dominant cerebral hemisphere is known to mediate the production of language but also contributes to comprehension. This region evolved only in humans and is constituted of Brodmann's areas 44 and 45 in the inferior frontal gyrus. There is, however, evidence that Broca's region overlaps, at least in part, with the ventral premotor cortex. We summarize the evidence that the ...

Objectives: The basal ganglia (BG) controls different patterns of behavior by receiving inputs from sensory-motor and pre-motor cortex and projecting it to pre-frontal, pre-motor and supplementary motor areas. As the exact role of BG in swallowing process has not been fully determined, we aimed at reviewing the published data on neurological control in the swallowing technique to have a better ...

The past 25 years have seen a resurgence of interest in the basal ganglia. In the 1980s, a series of studies yielded the now classic descriptions of basal ganglia connectivity and information flow that now dominates textbook descriptions. This was followed by the appearance of reward-based learning theories of corticostriatal function in which dopamine played a critical role in modulating corti...

The mammalian superior colliculus (SC) and its nonmammalian homolog, the optic tectum, constitute a major node in processing sensory information, incorporating cognitive factors, and issuing motor commands. The resulting action-to orient toward or away from a stimulus-can be accomplished as an integrated movement across oculomotor, cephalomotor, and skeletomotor effectors. The SC also participa...

introduction: patients with bilateral weakness (bw) have many difficulties in gaze stability that interfere with their normal function. the aim of this study was to evaluate ocular motor functions in patients with bw to better understand the problem of gaze instability in these patients.   materials and methods: patients were referred from the otolaryngology department for vestibular assessment...

Myosin VI has been localized in membrane ruffles at the leading edge of cells, at the trans-Golgi network compartment of the Golgi complex and in clathrin-coated pits or vesicles, indicating that it functions in a wide variety of intracellular processes. Myosin VI moves along actin filaments towards their minus end, which is the opposite direction to all of the other myosins so far studied (to ...

A study of movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease can provide an indication of the motor functions of the basal ganglia. Basal-ganglia diseases affect voluntary movement and can cause involuntary movement. Deficits are often manifested during the coordination of fine multi-joint movements (e.g., handwriting). The disturbances of motor control (e.g. akinesia, bra...