Spatio-temporal source localisation reveals involvement of medial premotor areas in movement reprogramming

Response priming tasks reveal huge reaction time (RT) costs when invalidly prepared movements have to be reprogrammed after the imperative response signal. Yet, possible brain correlates of motor reprogramming have rarely been examined. The present experiments were designed to ascertain the brain correlates associated with motor reprogramming by combining the recording of event-related brain potentials (ERPs) with a spatiotemporal source-localisation approach. In two experiments either valid or invalid advance information about direction (experiment 1) and about direction and response hand (experiment 2) was provided. RTs showed considerable motor reprogramming costs in invalid trials, In both experiments reprogramming effects were reflected in ERP difference waveforms in terms of a centroparietally distributed negative and a frontal positive deviation. Source localisation of these ERP difference waveforms indicated brain activity in medial higher-order motor regions. Present findings accord with the assumption that the human pre-supplementary motor area plays an important role in motor reprogramming.