IN THE PARIETAL CORTEX A MODEL OF
MOVEMENT RILEVANT FOR AWARENESS OF MOTOR PLANNING
The common experience of
wanting to move is a consequence of the elaboration in the Libet’s circuit of
an unaware process started many milliseconds before. During such process
electroencephalographic studies can measure the “readiness potential” which
indicates preparation for a movement. A. Sirigu and colleagues found that
patients with damage to the parietal cortex can’t report awareness of an
intention to move. They propose that the activity in the parietal cortex is
important for the generation of an internal model of a planned movement, and
that this model might be necessary for awareness of motor planning (Sirigu et al. Nature
Neurosci, 30 November 2003, online publication 10.1038/nn1160)