Reward-based planning of motor selection in the rostral cingulate motor area

The cingulate motor areas, located in the banks of the cingulate sulcus, constitute a portion of the cingulate cortex of primates. We here present experimental evidence showing that the rostral cingulate motor area (CMAr), but not the caudal one (CMAc) is crucial for the selection of future movements based on reward information. After muscimol injection into the CMAr, monkeys were impaired in selecting movements appropriately on the basis of the amount of reward obtained by performing correct movements. Furthermore, four types of cells in the CMAr were found to reflect a process intervening between detection of reward alteration and selection of a future movement. Each type of cell seems to be involved in responding to the quality of the reward, and to relay that information to change planned movements, and prepare a new movement.