Causal analysis of cortical networks involved in reaching to spatial targets

The planning of goal-directed movement towards targets in different parts of space is an important function of the brain. Such visuo-motor planning and execution is known to involve multiple brain regions, including visual, parietal, and frontal cortices. To understand how these brain regions work together to both plan and execute goal-directed movement, it is essential to describe the dynamic causal interactions among them. Here we model causal interactions of distributed cortical source activity derived from non-invasively recorded EEG, using a combination of ICA, minimum-norm distributed source localization (cLORETA), and dynamical modeling within the Source Information Flow Toolbox (SIFT). We differentiate network causal connectivity of reach planning and execution, by comparing the causal network in a speeded reaching task with that for a control task not requiring goal-directed movement. Analysis of a pilot dataset (n=5) shows the utility of this technique and reveals increased connectivity between visual, motor and frontal brain regions during reach planning, together with decreased cross-hemisphere visual coupling during planning and execution, possibly related to task demands.