1. Direction-dependent activation of the insular cortex during vertical and horizontal hand movements
- Author
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Luciano Fadiga, Thierry Pozzo, Lilian Fautrelle, Olivier White, Charalambos Papaxanthis, Célia Rousseau, Cognition, Action, et Plasticité Sensorimotrice [Dijon - U1093] (CAPS), Université de Bourgogne (UB)-Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), Centre de Recherche sur le Sport et le Mouvement (CeRSM), Université Paris Nanterre (UPN), Université Paris Nanterre - UFR Sciences et techniques des activités physiques et sportives (UPN STAPS), IIT Genoa, Human Physiology, Università degli Studi di Ferrara (UniFE), Institut Universitaire de France (IUF), Ministère de l'Education nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche (M.E.N.E.S.R.), Department of Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences (RBCS), Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia (IIT), Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM)Conseil Général de Bourgogne (France) Fonds européen de développement régional (FEDER) Progetti di Ricerca di Interesse Nazionale (PRIN) Italian Ministry of University (2010MEFNF7 PRIN), ANR-14-CE30-0007,MOTION,Contrôle et prédiction du mouvement dans le champ terrestre gravito-inertiel(2014), European Project: 288382,EC:FP7:ICT,FP7-ICT-2011-7,POETICON++(2012), Cognition, Action, et Plasticité Sensorimotrice [Dijon - U1093] ( CAPS ), Université de Bourgogne ( UB ) -Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale ( INSERM ), Centre de Recherche sur le Sport et le Mouvement ( CeRSM ), Université Paris Nanterre ( UPN ), Université Paris Nanterre - UFR Sciences et Techniques des Activités Physiques et Sportives ( UPN STAPS ), University of Ferrara [Ferrara], Institut Universitaire de France ( IUF ), Ministère de l'Éducation nationale, de l’Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche ( M.E.N.E.S.R. ), Department of Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences ( RBCS ), Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia ( IIT ), ANR-14-CE30-0007,MOTION,Contrôle et prédiction du mouvement dans le champ terrestre gravito-inertiel ( 2014 ), European Project : 288382,EC:FP7:ICT,FP7-ICT-2011-7,POETICON++ ( 2012 ), and Università degli Studi di Ferrara = University of Ferrara (UniFE)
- Subjects
Adult ,Male ,0301 basic medicine ,Visual perception ,genetic structures ,Horizontal and vertical ,Movement ,Socio-culturale ,fMRI ,Gravitational force ,Hand movements ,Insular cortex ,Internal model ,Neuroscience (all) ,gravity-field ,Motor Activity ,arm movements ,Brain mapping ,Visual control ,positron-emission-tomography ,Young Adult ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,sensory prediction ,motion ,internal-models ,Vertical direction ,Humans ,gravitational force ,pointing movements ,Cerebral Cortex ,Vestibular system ,Brain Mapping ,internal model ,human vestibular cortex ,Neural correlates of consciousness ,hand movements ,General Neuroscience ,Brain ,Middle Aged ,manual interceptions ,Hand ,Magnetic Resonance Imaging ,030104 developmental biology ,[ SDV.NEU ] Life Sciences [q-bio]/Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC] ,insular cortex ,[SDV.NEU]Life Sciences [q-bio]/Neurons and Cognition [q-bio.NC] ,Psychology ,Neuroscience ,030217 neurology & neurosurgery ,Gravitation - Abstract
International audience; The planning of any motor action requires a complex multisensory processing by the brain. Gravity - immutable on Earth - has been shown to be a key input to these mechanisms. Seminal fMRI studies performed during visual perception of falling objects and self-motion demonstrated that humans represent the action of gravity in parts of the cortical vestibular system; in particular, the insular cortex and the cerebellum. However, little is known as to whether a specific neural network is engaged when processing non-visual signals relevant to gravity. We asked participants to perform vertical and horizontal hand movements without visual control, while lying in a 3T-MRI scanner. We highlighted brain regions activated in the processing of vertical movements, for which the effects of gravity changed during execution. Precisely, the left insula was activated in vertical movements and not in horizontal movements. Moreover, the network identified by contrasting vertical and horizontal movements overlapped with neural correlates previously associated to the processing of simulated self-motion and visual perception of the vertical direction. Interestingly, we found that the insular cortex activity is direction-dependent which suggests that this brain region processes the effects of gravity on the moving limbs through non-visual signals.
- Published
- 2016