Neural representation in M1 and S1 cortex of bilateral hand actions during prehension

Bimanual movements that require coordinated actions of the two hands may be coordinated by synchronous bilateral activation of somatosensory and motor cortical areas in both hemispheres, by enhanced activation of individual neurons specialized for bimanual actions, or by both mechanisms. To investigate cortical neural mechanisms that mediate unimanual and bimanual prehension, we compared actions of the left and right hands in a reach to grasp-and-pull instructed-delay task. Spike trains were recorded with multiple electrode arrays placed in the hand area of primary motor (M1) and somatosensory (S1) cortex of the right hemisphere in macaques, allowing us to measure and compare the relative timing, amplitude, and synchronization of cortical activity in these areas as animals grasped and manipulated objects that differed in shape and location. We report that neurons in the right hemisphere show common task-related firing patterns for the two hands but actions of the ipsilateral hand elicited weaker and shorter-duration responses than those of the contralateral hand. We report significant bimanual activation of neurons in M1 but not in S1 cortex when animals have free choice of hand use in prehension tasks. Population ensemble responses in M1 thereby provide an accurate depiction of hand actions during skilled manual tasks. These studies also demonstrate that somatosensory cortical areas serve important cognitive and motor functions in skilled hand actions. Bilateral representation of hand actions may serve an important role in "motor equivalence"when the same movements are performed by either hand and in transfer of skill learning between the hands.