Haskins Publications

Number	1537
Year	2009
Drawer	27
Entry Date	05/04/2009
Authors	Tremblay, P. & Gracco, V.L.
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Publication	Cortex, doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2009.03.003, pp. 1-14.
url	http://www.haskins.yale.edu/Reprints/HL1537.pdf
Abstract	Several brain areas including the medial and lateral premotor areas, and the prefrontal cortex, are thought tot be involved in response selection. It is unclear, however, what the specific contribution of each of these areas is. It is also unclear whether the response selection process operates independent of response modality of interest. In the present study, the neural substrates for different response selection modes (volitional and stimulus-driven) were compared, using sparse-sapling functional magnetic resonance imaging, for two different response modalities: words and comparable oral motor gestures. Results demonstrate that response selection relies on a network of prefrontal, premotor and parietal areas, with the pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) at the core of the process. Overall, this network is sensitive to the manner in which responses are selected, despite the absence of a medio-lateral axis, as was suggested by Golberg (1985). In contrast, this this network shows little sensitivity to the modality of the response, suggesting of a domain-general selection process. Theoretical implications of these results are discussed.
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