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Probing cortical function with electrical stimulation

Nature Neuroscience volume 5, page 921 (2002)Cite this article

To the editor

In a recent News and Views1, Peter Strick comments on our recent finding that microstimulation of motor cortex evokes complex, coordinated behavior2. A major concern he raises is that “one might ask whether electrical stimulation of the cortex is capable of revealing its function.” We agree that one should always ask such questions about all experimental methods. However, a large body of recent work successfully probes cortical function using electrical stimulation. For example, stimulation of monkey visual area MT influences the monkey's perceptual decisions about the direction of motion of visual stimuli3. Stimulating primary somatosensory cortex influences the monkey's perceptual decisions about tactile stimuli4, and stimulating the frontal eye fields influences the monkey's target selection5. Many researchers have used electrical stimulation to study functional maps of eye and head movement6,7,8. We took the well-established protocol of stimulating on a behaviorally relevant time scale and applied it to motor cortex. The stimulation durations that we used are within the range of these previous studies, and the current intensities are within the range used in the oculomotor studies. As in previous studies, we evoked meaningful behaviors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Green Hall, Princeton University, Princeton, 08544, New Jersey, USA

    Michael S.A. Graziano, Charlotte S.R. Taylor & Tirin Moore

Authors
  1. Michael S.A. Graziano
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  2. Charlotte S.R. Taylor
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  3. Tirin Moore
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Graziano, M., Taylor, C. & Moore, T. Probing cortical function with electrical stimulation. Nat Neurosci 5, 921 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1002-921

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