Rôle du cortex pariétal postérieur dans le processus d'intégration visuomotrice - connexions anatomiques avec le cortex moteur et activité cellulaire lors de la locomotion chez le chat

When progressing through a varied environment, an individual will depend on visual information to evaluate the size, shape or the distance and time to contact of objects in his path. This will allow him to plan in advance the gait requirements necessary to avoid or step over these obstacles. This concept is also applicable in situations where the subject must reach a target, as with a predator chasing down its prey. The neural structures involved in generating voluntary gait modifications during locomotion have been extensively studied, but relatively little information is available on the processes that integrate visual information to plan these movements. Numerous studies in the primate suggest that the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) plays an important role in the preparation and execution of visually-guided reaching movements. In this thesis, we investigated the proposition that the PPC is similarly involved in the planning and control of visually-guided locomotion in the cat. Our first study examined the extent of cortico-cortical connections between the PPC and the more frontal motor areas, particularly the motor cortex, using injections of fluorescent retrograde tracers. We mapped the cortical surface of anaesthetized cats to identify the somatotopical representations of the distal and proximal forelimb in the rostral portion of the motor cortex, the forelimb representation in the caudal motor area, and also the hindlimb representation. The injection of different tracers in two selected regions, for every cat, allowed us to visualize the density of divergent and convergent parietal projections to these motor sites. Our analysis revealed a distinct topographical organization of parietal connections with all of the identified motor regions. In particular, the caudal motor representation of the forelimb primarily received projections from the rostral bank of the parietal cortex, while the caudal portion of the PPC strongly projected to the rostral forelimb representation. The latter observation is particularly interesting, since the caudal bank of the PPC receives numerous visual inputs and its target, the rostral motor region, is well-known for its involvement in voluntary motor functions. Therefore, this study suggests that the PPC, through extensive connections with the different somatotopic representations of the motor cortex, could constitute an ideal neural substrate for processes such as inter- and intra-limb coordination, as well as the modulation of visually-guided voluntary movements. Our second study tested the hypothesis that the PPC participates in the modulation and planning of voluntary gait modifications during locomotion in the cat. Using the cortical mapping established in our anatomical study, we recorded the activity of parietal neurons, localized in parts of areas 5a and 5b which are known to project strongly towards motor regions involved in forelimb movements. These recordings were obtained during a locomotion task requiring the cat to step over several obstacles of different sizes. By dissociating the speed of the obstacles from that of the treadmill onto which the cat is walking, our experimental protocol also allows us to increase the importance of visual information from the obstacles and to separate it from the influx of proprioceptive influx generated during locomotion. Our recordings revealed two groups of parietal cells on the basis of their activity in relation with the step over the obstacle: one population, mostly localized in area 5a, discharged solely as the lead forelimb passed over the obstacle (step-related cells), and another group, mainly found in area 5b, that showed significant activity at least one step cycle before the gait modification (step-advanced cells). Additionally, we observed an increase of cell activity in these groups, but particularly in step-advanced cells, when the speed of the obstacles was dissociated from that of the treadmill, demonstrating the growing importance of visual information as the task’s difficulty is increased. Finally, a great number of step-related cells were found to discharge specifically in correlation with muscle activity in the contralateral forelimb, regardless of whether or not it led over the obstacle (limb-specific cells). Inversely, the majority of step-advanced neurons tended to maintain their discharge in phase with the leading limb during the gait modification, independently of its position in relation with the recording site (limb-independent cells). We suggest that this additional disparity indicates diversified functions in PPC activity. For example, limb-specific cells could be involved in modulating the movement of the contralateral forelimb over the obstacle, regardless of its order of passage, while limb-independent neurons could instead specify the type of voluntary movement required to overcome the obstacle. Together, our observations indicate that the PPC can potentially influence the activity of motor centers through extensive cortical networks, and contributes to different aspects of visually-guided locomotion, such as initiation and modulation of voluntary forelimb movements, as well as the planning of these gait modifications to allow an individual to walk through a complex environment.

Keyphrases: Projection cortico-corticale, Posterior parietal cortex, Motor cortex, Retrograde tracers, Cortico-cortical projection, Gait modification, Planning of movement, Cat