When pliers become fingers in the monkey motor system

by: MA Umilta, L Escola, I Intskirveli, F Grammont, M Rochat, F Caruana, A Jezzini, V Gallese, G Rizzolatti

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 105, No. 6. (12 February 2008), pp. 2209-2213.

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摘要

The capacity to use tools is a fundamental evolutionary achievement. Its essence stands in the capacity to transfer a proximal goal (grasp a tool) to a distal goal (e.g., grasp food). Where and how does this goal transfer occur? Here, we show that, in monkeys trained to use tools, cortical motor neurons, active during hand grasping, also become active during grasping with pliers, as if the pliers were now the hand fingers. This motor embodiment occurs both for normal pliers and for "reverse pliers," an implement that requires finger opening, instead of their closing, to grasp an object. We conclude that the capacity to use tools is based on an inherently goal-centered functional organization of primate cortical motor areas. 10.1073/pnas.0705985105

@article{citeulike:2652011, abstract = {The capacity to use tools is a fundamental evolutionary achievement. Its essence stands in the capacity to transfer a proximal goal (grasp a tool) to a distal goal (e.g., grasp food). Where and how does this goal transfer occur? Here, we show that, in monkeys trained to use tools, cortical motor neurons, active during hand grasping, also become active during grasping with pliers, as if the pliers were now the hand fingers. This motor embodiment occurs both for normal pliers and for "reverse pliers," an implement that requires finger opening, instead of their closing, to grasp an object. We conclude that the capacity to use tools is based on an inherently goal-centered functional organization of primate cortical motor areas. 10.1073/pnas.0705985105}, author = {Umilta, M. A. and Escola, L. and Intskirveli, I. and Grammont, F. and Rochat, M. and Caruana, F. and Jezzini, A. and Gallese, V. and Rizzolatti, G. }, citeulike-article-id = {2652011}, doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0705985105}, journal = {Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences}, keywords = {brainthought, motor, random}, month = {February}, number = {6}, pages = {2209--2213}, posted-at = {2008-07-16 22:20:15}, priority = {2}, title = {When pliers become fingers in the monkey motor system}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0705985105}, volume = {105}, year = {2008} }

RIS record

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:2652011 L3 - citeulike-article-id:2652011 TI - When pliers become fingers in the monkey motor system JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences VL - 105 IS - 6 SP - 2209 EP - 2213 N2 - The capacity to use tools is a fundamental evolutionary achievement. Its essence stands in the capacity to transfer a proximal goal (grasp a tool) to a distal goal (e.g., grasp food). Where and how does this goal transfer occur? Here, we show that, in monkeys trained to use tools, cortical motor neurons, active during hand grasping, also become active during grasping with pliers, as if the pliers were now the hand fingers. This motor embodiment occurs both for normal pliers and for "reverse pliers," an implement that requires finger opening, instead of their closing, to grasp an object. We conclude that the capacity to use tools is based on an inherently goal-centered functional organization of primate cortical motor areas. 10.1073/pnas.0705985105 KW - brainthought KW - motor KW - random AU - Umilta, MA AU - Escola, L AU - Intskirveli, I AU - Grammont, F AU - Rochat, M AU - Caruana, F AU - Jezzini, A AU - Gallese, V AU - Rizzolatti, G PY - 2008/02/12/ UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0705985105 ER -

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