This is the dataset used in the paper with the same title, by Nougaret et al. (2024) in PLOS Biology. We investigated the neural mechanisms underlying motor control and attention in macaque monkeys. Two macaque monkeys were trained to perform a behavioral task that required both attention and motor skills. This experimental setup allowed for the observation of various factors related to the motor task while recording neuronal electrical activity through electrodes inserted acutely into the motor cortex. The study revealed that the primary motor cortex predominantly exhibited low-frequency beta oscillations (below 20 Hz) associated with movement control. In contrast, the dorsal premotor cortex showed higher-frequency beta activity (above 20 Hz), which was linked to attention to temporal and spatial context. Data from monkeys T and M are available in separate directories. For each LFP recording site included in the study, the MATLAB matfile contains 4 structure variables. These contain the 1) single-trial 'raw' LFP signal, 2) the Hilbert amplitude envelope of the site-dominant beta band as used in the study, 3) the behavioral data (single-trial hand and eye movements; task events) and 4) the session metadata (session ID and other information).