Organization of the posterior parietal cortex in galagos: II. Ipsilateral cortical connections of physiologically identified zones within anterior sensorimotor region.

We studied cortical connections of functionally distinct movement zones of the posterior parietal cortex (PPC) in galagos identified by intracortical microstimulation with long stimulus trains ( approximately 500 msec). All these zones were in the anterior half of PPC, and each of them had a different pattern of connections with premotor (PM) and motor (M1) areas of the frontal lobe and with other areas of parietal and occipital cortex. The most rostral PPC zone has major connections with motor and visuomotor areas of frontal cortex as well as with somatosensory areas 3a and 1-2 and higher order somatosensory areas in the lateral sulcus. The dorsal part of anterior PPC region representing hand-to-mouth movements is connected mostly to the forelimb representation in PM, M1, 3a, 1-2, and somatosensory areas in the lateral sulcus and on the medial wall. The more posterior defensive and reaching zones have additional connections with nonprimary visual areas (V2, V3, DL, DM, MST). Ventral aggressive and defensive face zones have reciprocal connections with each other as well as connections with mostly face, but also forelimb representations of premotor areas and M1 as well as prefrontal cortex, FEF, and somatosensory areas in the lateral sulcus and areas on the medial surface of the hemisphere. Whereas the defensive face zone is additionally connected to nonprimary visual cortical areas, the aggressive face zone is not. These differences in connections are consistent with our functional parcellation of PPC based on intracortical long-train microstimulation, and they identify parts of cortical networks that mediate different motor behaviors.