The selection of objects in the visual environment is important in everyday life when acting in a goal-directed manner. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate brain activity while healthy subjects (N= 15) selectively reached to grasp a three-dimensional (3D) target stimulus presented either in isolation or in the presence of 3D non-target stimuli. A pneumatic MRI compatible apparatus was designed to precisely control the presentation of 3D graspable stimuli within the scanner. During scanning subjects were instructed to reach and grasp towards a target presented at an unknown location either in isolation or flanked by two distractor objects. Results indicated that reaching towards and grasping the target object in the presence of other non-target stimuli was associated with greater activation within the contralateral primary motor cortex and the precuneus as compared to the execution of reach-to-grasp movements towards the target presented in isolation. We conclude that the presence of non-targets evokes a differential level of neural activity within areas responsible for the planning and execution of selective reach-to-grasp movement.

The neural basis of selection-for-action

PIERNO, ANDREA CRISTIANO;CASTIELLO, UMBERTO
2007

Abstract

The selection of objects in the visual environment is important in everyday life when acting in a goal-directed manner. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate brain activity while healthy subjects (N= 15) selectively reached to grasp a three-dimensional (3D) target stimulus presented either in isolation or in the presence of 3D non-target stimuli. A pneumatic MRI compatible apparatus was designed to precisely control the presentation of 3D graspable stimuli within the scanner. During scanning subjects were instructed to reach and grasp towards a target presented at an unknown location either in isolation or flanked by two distractor objects. Results indicated that reaching towards and grasping the target object in the presence of other non-target stimuli was associated with greater activation within the contralateral primary motor cortex and the precuneus as compared to the execution of reach-to-grasp movements towards the target presented in isolation. We conclude that the presence of non-targets evokes a differential level of neural activity within areas responsible for the planning and execution of selective reach-to-grasp movement.
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.
Pubblicazioni consigliate

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11577/2471628
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? 2
  • Scopus 17
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 16
social impact