Abstract
Mirror neurons in the ventral premotor cortex (F5) and a part of the inferior parietal cortex (area PF) of the monkey were active during execution of the hand or mouth action and observing same action made by another individual. However, function of the mirror neurons of the macaque is still uncertain. In this experiment, we studied whether neurons in area PF, especially mirror neurons, correlate to monitoring self-generated action or not. We recorded single cell activity from area PF during the hand manipulation task. The monkey was presented image of the hand and object on a screen which was taken by a video camera and required to manipulate the object seeing them. Further, we also presented movies of monkey’s hand movement or experimenter’s hand action, and the monkey just fixated on it without any hand movement. Some neurons related to the hand manipulation task responded to the movie of own hand movement. This visual response may reflect visual feedback during hand movement. Many of them responded with the movie of hand action by the experimenter. These results suggested that mirror neurons in area PF were also responsive to the view of own hand action. We also found this visual response was less active in the delayed feedback than in the real time. We found that the movement time was extended in the human grasping movement with the delayed visual feedback. In conclusion, area PF may be correlated with self-generated action monitoring. Time contingency of the sensory feedback to hand action is very important for activity of the neurons. [Jpn J Physiol 55 Suppl:S180 (2005)]
