[The activity of cat motor cortex neurons during performance of a conditoned response of placing the forepaw on a support].

The activity of 74 units of the cat precentral motor cortex was studied in the process of reaction of placing the forepaw on a support. It has been shown that the neurones controlling the flexion of the ulnar joint, the first phase of the reaction, receive an afferent tactile input primarily from the dorsal side of the paw, i.e. from region of the skin surface which is the receptive field of the reflex of placing the paw on the support. Learning the animals to lift the paw to the support in response to a touch of the ventral surface results in an increase of discharge frequency of the studied units in response to ventral stimulation similar to that recorded in response to the initially effective dorsal stimulation.