[Reflection of the phases of conditioned reflex placing of the paw on a support in the activity of motor cortex neurons in cats].

In four cats trained to respond with the placing of a fore-leg on a support to both tactile stimulation of the leg and to electrostimulation of the primary motor and sensory cortical areas, of the ventral posterolateral nucleus of the thalamus and of cerebral peduncles, the activity of 77 cortical neurones in the area of motor representation of anterior contralateral extremity was studied before the conditioned movements and during them. The pattern of activity in approximately 83.9% of the studied neurones 200 s before the instrumental placing movement was constant for this movement and did not depend on the type of its trigger (p = 0.01). The activity of such neurones probably reflects the formation of the program of the forthcoming movement at the motor cortex level.