Hierarchical Organization Within the Ventral Premotor Cortex of the Macaque Monkey

Recent studies have revealed that the ventral premotor cortex (PMv) of nonhuman primates plays a pivotal role in various behaviors that require the transformation of sensory cues to appropriate actions. Examples include decision-making based on various sensory cues, preparation for upcoming motor behavior, adaptive sensorimotor transformation, and the generation of motor commands using rapid sensory feedback. Although the PMv has frequently been regarded as a single entity, it can be divided into at least five functionally distinct regions: F4, a dorsal convexity region immediately rostral to the primary motor cortex (M1); F5p, a cortical region immediately rostral to F4, lying within the arcuate sulcus; F5c, a ventral convexity region rostral to F4; and F5a, located in the caudal bank of the arcuate sulcus inferior limb lateral to F5p. Among these, F4 can be further divided into dorsal and ventral subregions (F4d and F4v), which are involved in forelimb and orofacial movements, respectively. F5p contains “mirror neurons” to understand others' actions based on visual and other types of information, and F4d and F5p work together as a functional complex involved in controlling forelimb and eye movements, most efficiently in the execution and completion of coordinated eye-hand movements for reaching and grasping under visual guidance. In contrast, F5c and F5a are hierarchically higher than the F4d, F5p, and F5v complexes, and play a role in decision-making based on various sensory discriminations. Hence, the PMv subregions form a hierarchically organized integral system from decision-making to eye-hand coordination under various behavioral circumstances.