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J Neurophysiol 92: 1990-2002, 2004. First published May 26, 2004; doi:10.1152/jn.00154.2004
0022-3077/04 $5.00
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Functional Properties of Grasping-Related Neurons in the Dorsal Premotor Area F2 of the Macaque Monkey

Vassilis Raos1,2, Maria-Alessandra Umiltá1, Vittorio Gallese1 and Leonardo Fogassi1,3

1Dipartimento di Neuroscienze, Sezione di Fisiologia, Università di Parma, 43100 Parma, Italy; 2Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, 71110 Heraklion, Crete, Greece; and 3Dipartimento di Psicologia, Università di Parma, 43100 Parma, Italy

Submitted 17 February 2004; accepted in final form 20 May 2004

We investigated the properties of neurons located in the distal forelimb field of dorsal premotor area F2 of macaque monkey using a behavioral paradigm for studying the neuronal discharge during observation (object fixation condition) and grasping of different 3-dimensional objects with and without visual guidance of the movement (movement in light and movement in dark conditions, respectively). The main result is that almost all studied neurons were selective for both the type of prehension and the wrist orientation required for grasping an object. Three categories of neurons were found: purely motor, visually modulated, and visuomotor neurons. The discharge of purely motor neurons was not affected by either object presentation or by the visual feedback of the hand approaching to and interacting with the object. Visually modulated neurons presented a different discharge in the 2 movement conditions, this determining a decrease in selectivity for the grip and wrist orientation in the movement in dark condition. Visuomotor neurons typically discharged during the object fixation task even in the absence of any grasping movement. Nine of them also displayed a different discharge rate between the 2 movement conditions. Congruence was observed between the neuron response during the most effective type of prehension and the neuron response during observation of the object requiring that particular prehension. These results indicate an important role of F2 in the control of goal-related hand movements.

Address for reprint requests and other correspondence: V. Raos, Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, P.O. Box 1527, 71110 Heraklion, Crete, Greece (E-mail: vraos{at}med.uoc.gr).




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