Medical Precentral Gyrus Stimulation and Voluntary movement

[ragarth]

Hiya, I'm currently reading The Encyclopaedia Britannica Guide to the Brain and I came across a statement about the precentral gyrus that I'd like to find corroboration for:

"When parts of the gyrus are electrically stimulated in conscious patients (under local anaesthesia), they produce localized movements on the opposite side of the body that are interpreted by the patient as voluntary"

When I read this, it makes me think that, if asked, the patient would state they are consciously making the movement generated by the electrical stimulus. Is this correct, and does anyone know of an experiment where this has been verified?

 

[Monique]

The case where I've seen the experiment performed (it was a popular science quiz t.v. show) the subjects did not think it was voluntary, but more like a reflex such as when you get hit by a hammer on the knee (but I can imagine that the circumstances in which the experiment is performed can greatly influence the experience of the subject).

 

[ragarth]

Humm, how should I interpret that statement then? I'm rapidly losing trust in this book, this would make the 2nd statement in under 30 pages that is either factually false or stupendously misleading.

 

[liannagreyson]

You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree with your post.