Somatotopy of monkey premotor cortex examined with microstimulation

Abstract

We reinvestigated the organization of the premotor cortex (PM) using intracortical microstimulation. Movements of forelimb, hindlimb, and orofacial structures were evoked from broad regions of PM that appeared to be contiguous with other motor areas. There were two principal findings: (1) the somatotopy of PM lies roughly parallel to that of the primary motor cortex (MI). Forelimb movements were evoked from sites deep in the caudal bank of the arcuate sulcus and throughout the adjacent cortex bounded by a face representation (laterally) and a hindlimb representation (medially and caudally); (2) unlike the MI, the PM forelimb representation overlaps significantly with its own face representation. PM hindlimb movement sites overlap only slightly with PM forelimb sites, in a manner similar to the MI. There was no obvious boundary between PM, MI, or supplementary motor area hindlimb representations. The present findings are discussed in relation to recently identified subdivisions of the PM.