A large expanse of the primate cerebral cortex is dedicated to formulating the motor commands that control the complex mechanical apparatus of the hand. Conventional views about how the motor cortex controls the hand, however, are being overturned. For example, it is now clear that the hand region of the motor cortex is not topographically subdivided into distinct regions associated with the control of individual digits. Furthermore, it appears that multiple muscles are engaged even during the simplest movements of a single finger. Consequently, we have to reconsider how a spatially-distributed motor cortex might orchestrate the activities of multiple muscles in the elaboration of finger movements. One possibility is that descending pathways diverge to act collectively upon several motor nuclei to enlist sets of muscles into functional groups (synergies). This type of organization, while relatively inflexible, might underlie the assemblage of muscles into synergistic groups needed to generate the elemental movements that are the building blocks of the behavioral repertoire of the hand. I will present evidence both supporting the presence and absence of such fixed synergies among different groups of hand muscles and the functional significance associated with both forms of multi-muscle coordination.
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