[Activity of cat motor cortex neurons during performance and conditioned reflex inhibition of the reaction of placing the forepaw on a support].

In chronic experiments on six cats a study was made of the unit activity of the contralateral forepaw motor area when achieving the reaction of placing the forepaw on a pedal. Of the 118 units, 32 exhibited tactile receptive fields on the contralateral paw. In the course of achieving the reaction, the activity of 97 pyramidal and non-pyramidal units was studied. The activity of 69 units correlated with some phase or other of the placing reaction. Connected with the movement was the activity of 93% of the investigated pyramidal cells and 65% of the non-identified units. 59.5% of the units changed their activity before activation in EMG, and the rest changed it during or after EMG activation. Two groups of units were singled out when conditioned inhibition was introduced, one with a changing and the other with a non-changing reaction during conditioned inhibition of the placing reactions.