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Direct electrical stimulation of the premotor cortex shuts down awareness of voluntary actions

Author

Listed:
  • Luca Fornia

    (IRCCS)

  • Guglielmo Puglisi

    (University of Turin
    IRCCS)

  • Antonella Leonetti

    (IRCCS
    IRCCS)

  • Lorenzo Bello

    (IRCCS)

  • Anna Berti

    (University of Turin
    Neuroscience Institute of Turin (NIT))

  • Gabriella Cerri

    (IRCCS)

  • Francesca Garbarini

    (University of Turin
    Neuroscience Institute of Turin (NIT))

Abstract

A challenge for neuroscience is to understand the conscious and unconscious processes underlying construction of willed actions. We investigated the neural substrate of human motor awareness during awake brain surgery. In a first experiment, awake patients performed a voluntary hand motor task and verbally monitored their real-time performance, while different brain areas were transiently impaired by direct electrical stimulation (DES). In a second experiment, awake patients retrospectively reported their motor performance after DES. Based on anatomo-clinical evidence from motor awareness disorders following brain damage, the premotor cortex (PMC) was selected as a target area and the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) as a control area. In both experiments, DES on both PMC and S1 interrupted movement execution, but only DES on PMC dramatically altered the patients’ motor awareness, making them unconscious of the motor arrest. These findings endorse PMC as a crucial hub in the anatomo-functional network of human motor awareness.

Suggested Citation

  • Luca Fornia & Guglielmo Puglisi & Antonella Leonetti & Lorenzo Bello & Anna Berti & Gabriella Cerri & Francesca Garbarini, 2020. "Direct electrical stimulation of the premotor cortex shuts down awareness of voluntary actions," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-14517-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-14517-4
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