The major goals of the project are to understand the mechanisms of information processing occurring within somatic sensorimotor cortical columns and the basal ganglia, and to determine how this relates to motor behavior. Extracellular single neuron recording techniques in awake, behaving monkeys are used to study neural mechanisms involved in the cerebral control of movement. Motor cortex responses to cerebellar stimulation, obtained via chronically implanted electrodes in the brachium conjunctivum, were recorded using microelectrodes in the primary motor cortex. Similarly, somatic sensorimotor cortex responses to peripheral mechanical stimulation, generated by controlled wrist flexion and extension using an electronically controlled torque motor, were recorded using microelectrodes in the primary motor cortex and somatic primary sensory cortex. Input-output relations of the somatic sensorimotor cortical columns were studied by investigating the effects these types of afferents to the cerebrum have on neurons in the different layers of the columns. This cortical activity in response to sensory signals can be contrasted with the properties of sensory responsive cells in the putamen and globus pallidus of the basal ganglia. A new and more versatile computer program was developed to sort and analyze event-related neural activity.
