The primary motor cortex is involved in the control of a non-motor cognitive action

•Late component of event related potentials can be evoked by non-target visual oddball stimuli in prefrontal areas and primary motor cortex.•Primary motor cortex involvement concerns also situations where no overt or covered motor action is present.•Low specialized neuronal network is suggested to be activated during cognitive operations linked to non-motor actions.

ObjectiveAdaptive interactions with the outer world necessitate effective connections between cognitive and executive functions. The primary motor cortex (M1) with its control of the spinal cord motor apparatus and its involvement in the processing of cognitive information related to motor functions is one of the best suited structures of this cognition-action connection. The question arose whether M1 might be involved also in situations where no overt or covered motor action is present.MethodsThe EEG data analyzed were recorded during an oddball task in one epileptic patient (19 years) with depth multilead electrodes implanted for diagnostic reasons into the M1 and several prefrontal areas.ResultsThe main result was the finding of an evoked response to non-target stimuli with a pronounced late component in all frontal areas explored, including three loci of the M1. The late component was implicated in the evaluation of predicted and actual action and was synchronized in all three precentral loci and in the majority of prefrontal loci.ConclusionThe finding is considered as direct evidence of functional involvement of the M1 in cognitive activity not related to motor function.SignificanceOur results contribute to better understanding of neural mechanisms underlying cognition.