Transcranial magnetic stimulation of posterior parietal cortex affects decisions of hand choice
Edited by Richard A. Andersen, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, and approved August 26, 2010 (received for review May 10, 2010)
Abstract
Deciding which hand to use for an action is one of the most frequent decisions people make in everyday behavior. Using a speeded reaching task, we provide evidence that hand choice entails a competitive decision process between simultaneously activated action plans for each hand. We then show that single-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation to the left posterior parietal cortex biases this competitive process, leading to an increase in ipsilateral, left hand reaches. Stimulation of the right posterior parietal cortex did not alter hand choice, suggesting a hemispheric asymmetry in the representations of reach plans. These results are unique in providing causal evidence that the posterior parietal cortex is involved in decisions of hand choice.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the National Institutes of Health (P01 NS040813), the National Science Foundation (IIS 0703787), and the Belgian American Educational Foundation.
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Published online: September 27, 2010
Published in issue: October 12, 2010
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the National Institutes of Health (P01 NS040813), the National Science Foundation (IIS 0703787), and the Belgian American Educational Foundation.
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The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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Transcranial magnetic stimulation of posterior parietal cortex affects decisions of hand choice, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.
107 (41) 17751-17756,
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1006223107
(2010).
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