Modeling the motor cortex: Optimality, recurrent neural networks, and spatial dynamics

Specialization of motor function in the frontal lobe was first discovered in the seminal experiments by Fritsch and Hitzig and subsequently by Ferrier in the 19th century. It is, however, ironical that the functional and computational role of the motor cortex still remains unresolved. A computational understanding of the motor cortex equals to understanding what movement variables the motor neurons represent (movement representation problem) and how such movement variables are computed through the interaction with anatomically connected areas (neural computation problem). Electrophysiological experiments in the 20th century demonstrated that the neural activities in motor cortex correlated with a number of motor-related and cognitive variables, thereby igniting the controversy over movement representations in motor cortex. Despite substantial experimental efforts, the overwhelming complexity found in neural activities has impeded our understanding of how movements are represented in the motor cortex. Recent progresses in computational modeling have rekindled this controversy in the 21st century. Here, I review the recent developments in computational models of the motor cortex, with a focus on optimality models, recurrent neural network models and spatial dynamics models. Although individual models provide consistent pictures within their domains, our current understanding about functions of the motor cortex is still fragmented.