Hippocampal connectivity with sensorimotor cortex during volitional finger movements: Laterality and relationship to motor learning

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 14; no. 9; p. e0222064
• Main Author: Burman, Douglas D.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Public Library of Science 19.09.2019; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adult; Biology and Life Sciences; Brain; Cognitive ability; Connectome; Cortex (somatosensory); Diagnostic imaging; Electroencephalography; Female; Finger; Fingers - physiology; Functional Laterality; Functional magnetic resonance imaging; Handedness; Health aspects; Hippocampus; Hippocampus (Brain); Hippocampus - physiology; Humans; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Learning; Magnetic resonance; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medicine and Health Sciences; Memory; Motor learning; Motor skill learning; Motor task performance; Movement - physiology; Neuroimaging; Neurophysiology; Neurosciences; Psychomotor Performance; Research and Analysis Methods; Sensitivity analysis; Sensorimotor Cortex - physiology; Sensorimotor integration; Social Sciences; Somatosensory cortex; Visual cortex; Visual tasks; Volition - physiology
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0222064

Hippocampal interactions with the motor system are often assumed to reflect the role of memory in motor learning. Here, we examine hippocampal connectivity with sensorimotor cortex during two tasks requiring paced movements, one with a mnemonic component (sequence learning) and one without (repetitive tapping). Functional magnetic resonance imaging activity was recorded from thirteen right-handed subjects; connectivity was identified from sensorimotor cortex correlations with psychophysiological interactions in hippocampal activity between motor and passive visual tasks. Finger movements in both motor tasks anticipated the timing of the metronome, reflecting cognitive control, yet evidence of motor learning was limited to the sequence learning task; nonetheless, hippocampal connectivity was observed during both tasks. Connectivity from corresponding regions in the left and right hippocampus overlapped extensively, with improved sensitivity resulting from their conjunctive (global) analysis. Positive and negative connectivity were both evident, with positive connectivity in sensorimotor cortex ipsilateral to the moving hand during unilateral movements, whereas negative connectivity was prominent in whichever hemisphere was most active during movements. Results implicate the hippocampus in volitional finger movements even in the absence of motor learning or recall.