Neural aspects of anticipatory behavior

Anticipatory behavior reveals itself in the perceptual domain and in the mo tor domain. Expectant attention and motor preparation are characterized by selection, aimed at an amelioration of the signal-to-noise ratio in the inf ormation to be processed. The functional similarity of anticipatory attenti on and motor preparation is reflected in the underlying anatomical substrat e. The prefrontal cortex, involved in a number of different networks, organ izes anticipatory behavior in a top-down way by activating cortico-cortical loops and thalamo-cortical loops to sensory and motor areas. The sensory a reas are set to receive the impinging stimulus presentation, the motor area s are set to implement and execute the different motor programs. Thalamic n uclei are also activated from the prefrontal cortex, especially the large a ssociation nuclei, the dorsomedial nucleus and the pulvinar. In different m odels of selective attention the reticular nucleus of the thalamus has a sp ecial role in the distribution of the inhibitory control upon the informati on processing in the "relay" nuclei. It is hypothesized that it has the sam e pivotal position in motor preparation. Although the anatomical relations do not allow a direct test of the proposed hypothesis, the available psycho physiological evidence does not contradict it. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B. V. All rights reserved. PsycINFO classification. 2330; 2340; 2346; 2520; 25 40; 2560.