Event: UK Sensorimotor Meeting 2022 (Birmingham, UK)

Author: Viviane Tenorio

Summary:  The dynamical systems framework considers a neural population as a dynamical system that, through its different states in time generates and controls movement. Churchland et al. found that primary motor cortical (M1) activity during reaching contained an oscillatory neural trajectory – an unexpected result for such a non-periodic behaviour. We investigate whether similar oscillatory trajectories occur in other brain regions. jPCA analysis used single-unit recordings from two macaque monkeys performing an elbow flexion/ extension task, taken from M1, reticular formation (RF) and spinal cord interneurons (SC). We found that brief oscillatory trajectories do occur in RF and SC as well as in M1. Our results suggest that rotational dynamics are present at different levels of the motor system. While M1 and SC dynamics appear similar, RF activity is closer to a pure rotation, possibly indicating that RF does not simply act to transmit M1 activity.