Parietal-Premotor Cortex Relationship

The human brain is composed of several segmented compartments that are responsible for a wide variety of functions. While individualized,  complex behavior, such as movement was theorized to be multifactorial, involving communication between several areas to coordinate actions. In the paper discussed, the connection between intent, movement and the predicted response to this action were all observed and analyzed via electrical stimulation during brain surgery. In summary, stimulation of the parietal lobe induced an intent and increased stimuli lead to a pseudo movement, where the patient believed they had moved and even interpreted sensation as if they had, however, no movement occured. In contrast, stimulation of the premotor cortex elicited movement, however the patient’s were completely unaware of these actions and they did not express any desire to move. The author infers that movement is an efferent response or plan created by the parietal region of the brain that is then communicated to the premotor cortex, which carries out this action independently of predicted consequences.