Analysis of neuronal interactions during adaptation and learning in motor control of primates

In this study, we investigate how neurons from different cortices of the brain interact with each other during learning of a task, and how they adapt after perturbation in rhesus monkeys. The level of interaction between neurons over time was estimated through a nonparametric approach by calculating the mutual information between their neural spike trains. It was observed that the average mutual information between neurons was increased significantly within the motor cortex and between the motor and sensory cortices or the brain during the last days of the experiment. Moreover, the increased interactions within the motor cortex were observed before the onset of expected perturbations of arm movements, indicating that the neurons interact well in advance in anticipation of a perturbation, and coordinate their activity to adapt to the task faster and more successfully.