TY - JOUR

T1 - Decoding the neural mechanisms of human tool use

AU - Gallivan, Jason P

AU - McLean, D Adam

AU - Valyear, Kenneth F

AU - Culham, Jody C

PY - 2013/5/28

Y1 - 2013/5/28

N2 - Sophisticated tool use is a defining characteristic of the primate species but how is it supported by the brain, particularly the human brain? Here we show, using functional MRI and pattern classification methods, that tool use is subserved by multiple distributed action-centred neural representations that are both shared with and distinct from those of the hand. In areas of frontoparietal cortex we found a common representation for planned hand- and tool-related actions. In contrast, in parietal and occipitotemporal regions implicated in hand actions and body perception we found that coding remained selectively linked to upcoming actions of the hand whereas in parietal and occipitotemporal regions implicated in tool-related processing the coding remained selectively linked to upcoming actions of the tool. The highly specialized and hierarchical nature of this coding suggests that hand- and tool-related actions are represented separately at earlier levels of sensorimotor processing before becoming integrated in frontoparietal cortex. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00425.001.

AB - Sophisticated tool use is a defining characteristic of the primate species but how is it supported by the brain, particularly the human brain? Here we show, using functional MRI and pattern classification methods, that tool use is subserved by multiple distributed action-centred neural representations that are both shared with and distinct from those of the hand. In areas of frontoparietal cortex we found a common representation for planned hand- and tool-related actions. In contrast, in parietal and occipitotemporal regions implicated in hand actions and body perception we found that coding remained selectively linked to upcoming actions of the hand whereas in parietal and occipitotemporal regions implicated in tool-related processing the coding remained selectively linked to upcoming actions of the tool. The highly specialized and hierarchical nature of this coding suggests that hand- and tool-related actions are represented separately at earlier levels of sensorimotor processing before becoming integrated in frontoparietal cortex. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00425.001.

KW - Adult

KW - Brain Mapping

KW - Cerebral Cortex

KW - Cognition

KW - Feedback, Sensory

KW - Female

KW - Frontal Lobe

KW - Functional Laterality

KW - Hand

KW - Humans

KW - Magnetic Resonance Imaging

KW - Male

KW - Motor Skills

KW - Neural Pathways

KW - Neurons

KW - Neuropsychological Tests

KW - Occipital Lobe

KW - Parietal Lobe

KW - Perception

KW - Sensation

KW - Temporal Lobe

KW - Young Adult

KW - Journal Article

KW - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

U2 - 10.7554/eLife.00425

DO - 10.7554/eLife.00425

M3 - Article

C2 - 23741616

VL - 2

SP - e00425

JO - Elife

JF - Elife

SN - 2050-084X

ER -