Task dependence of brain area contributions to implementing coactivation

Ascertain whether the computations and relative contributions of distributed brain areas—including primary motor cortex, cerebellum, reticular formation, red nucleus, parietal cortex, and premotor cortex—in generating muscle coactivation depend on task properties such as temporal or spatial urgency and on environmental dynamics such as novel, unstable, or variable disturbances.

Background

A broad network spanning cortex, brainstem, and cerebellum can modulate spinal excitability to elicit muscle coactivation, as indicated by recording and stimulation studies in humans and non-human animals.

Despite this distributed involvement, the authors point out that the specific computations and the degree to which each area contributes may vary with the task goal and environmental context, but this dependence remains unclear.