Coding of self-motion-induced and self-independent visual motion in the rat dorsomedial striatum

Abstract

Evolutionary development of vision has provided us with the capacity to detect moving objects. Concordant shifts of visual features suggest movements of the observer, whereas discordant changes are more likely to be indicating independently moving objects, such as predators or prey. Such distinction helps us to focus attention, adapt our behavior, and adjust our motor patterns to meet behavioral challenges. However, the neural basis of distinguishing self-induced and self-independent visual motions is not clarified in unrestrained animals yet. In this study, we investigated the presence and origin of motion-related visual information in the striatum of rats, a hub of action selection and procedural memory. We found that while almost half of the neurons in the dorsomedial striatum are sensitive to visual motion congruent with locomotion (and that many of them also code for spatial location), only a small subset of them are composed of fast-firing interneurons that could also perceive self-independent visual stimuli. These latter cells receive their visual input at least partially from the secondary visual cortex (V2). This differential visual sensitivity may be an important support in adjusting behavior to salient environmental events. It emphasizes the importance of investigating visual motion perception in unrestrained animals.

Diversity in striatal synaptic circuits arises from distinct embryonic progenitor pools in the ventral telencephalon

“…Our data suggest that distinct information pathways through the striatum based on neural progenitor origin co-exists alongside integrated networks of converging multisensory pathways ( Wilson et al., 1983 ; Nagy et al., 2006 ; Reig and Silberberg, 2014 ), divergent networks based on either dSPN/iSPN sub-divisions ( Wall et al., 2013 ), and striosome-matrix sub-divisions ( McGregor et al., 2019 ; Matsushima and Graybiel, 2020 ). Lastly, our data provide further evidence for direct functional glutamatergic projections to DMS from VC areas ( Hikosaka et al., 1989 ; Khibnik et al., 2014 ; Nagy et al., 2018 ) and mPFC ( Choi et al., 2019 ; Loewke et al., 2020 ). Interestingly, our observations that mPFC strongly innervates aIP-derived SPNs, which preferentially innervate dSPNs, fits with the idea of fine-scale subnetworks dedicated to processing related information ( Yoshimura and Callaway, 2005 ; Ko et al., 2011 ) because dSPNs are also preferentially driven by input from mPFC ( Loewke et al., 2020 ).…”

The Meaning of Behavior: Discriminating Reflex and Volition in the Brain

“…It is interesting too to reflect on the range of the cortical inputs that impinge on the pDMS in this context. Given the multimodal nature of the goals of goal-directed action, the inputs to the pDMS are clearly fit for this purpose including, besides the PL, inputs from visual, auditory, retrosplenial, parietal, orbital, and cingulate cortices and amygdala (Hunnicutt et al, 2016;Nagy et al, 2018).…”

Internal representation of future interactions in rats

“…However, in these tasks assessing spatial memory 7 , paired-associate learning 8 , attention 9 , or cognitive flexibility 10 , visual stimuli are static and presented through touchscreens, and animals are trained to physically approach and make contact with the visual stimuli. Further tasks were designed to study the visual perception of motion 11,12 or discrimination between self-motion and the motion of other objects 13 . Rats can also discriminate positions of visual objects, which cannot be directly explored and are displayed on a distant computer screen in an inaccessible space 14,15 and this ability is dependent on the hippocampus 16 , which is critical for navigation in the real space, both in static 17 and dynamic scenarios 18 .…”