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Brain circuits for the internal monitoring of movements.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Sommer, MA; Wurtz, RH
Published in: Annual review of neuroscience
January 2008

Each movement we make activates our own sensory receptors, thus causing a problem for the brain: the spurious, movement-related sensations must be discriminated from the sensory inputs that really matter, those representing our environment. Here we consider circuits for solving this problem in the primate brain. Such circuits convey a copy of each motor command, known as a corollary discharge (CD), to brain regions that use sensory input. In the visual system, CD signals may help to produce a stable visual percept from the jumpy images resulting from our rapid eye movements. A candidate pathway for providing CD for vision ascends from the superior colliculus to the frontal cortex in the primate brain. This circuit conveys warning signals about impending eye movements that are used for planning subsequent movements and analyzing the visual world. Identifying this circuit has provided a model for studying CD in other primate sensory systems and may lead to a better understanding of motor and mental disorders.

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Published In

Annual review of neuroscience

DOI

EISSN

1545-4126

ISSN

0147-006X

Publication Date

January 2008

Volume

31

Start / End Page

317 / 338

Related Subject Headings

  • Visual Pathways
  • Superior Colliculi
  • Saccades
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Neurology & Neurosurgery
  • Neural Pathways
  • Movement
  • Humans
  • Frontal Lobe
  • Feedback
 

Citation

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Sommer, M. A., & Wurtz, R. H. (2008). Brain circuits for the internal monitoring of movements. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 31, 317–338. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.neuro.31.060407.125627
Sommer, Marc A., and Robert H. Wurtz. “Brain circuits for the internal monitoring of movements.Annual Review of Neuroscience 31 (January 2008): 317–38. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.neuro.31.060407.125627.
Sommer MA, Wurtz RH. Brain circuits for the internal monitoring of movements. Annual review of neuroscience. 2008 Jan;31:317–38.
Sommer, Marc A., and Robert H. Wurtz. “Brain circuits for the internal monitoring of movements.Annual Review of Neuroscience, vol. 31, Jan. 2008, pp. 317–38. Epmc, doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.31.060407.125627.
Sommer MA, Wurtz RH. Brain circuits for the internal monitoring of movements. Annual review of neuroscience. 2008 Jan;31:317–338.

Published In

Annual review of neuroscience

DOI

EISSN

1545-4126

ISSN

0147-006X

Publication Date

January 2008

Volume

31

Start / End Page

317 / 338

Related Subject Headings

  • Visual Pathways
  • Superior Colliculi
  • Saccades
  • Psychomotor Performance
  • Neurology & Neurosurgery
  • Neural Pathways
  • Movement
  • Humans
  • Frontal Lobe
  • Feedback