Rapid suppression and sustained activation of distinct cortical regions for a delayed sensory-triggered motor response

Abstract

Highlights d Cortex-wide task-epoch-specific causal neural activity across sensorimotor learning d Rapid inhibitory response of orofacial cortex contributes to delay licking d Secondary whisker motor cortex is a key node converting whisker input to lick plan d Sensory information converges to a focal frontal area critical for delayed response

Ventral striatal islands of Calleja neurons control grooming in mice

“…To identify task-modulated neurons, we compared each neuron’s averaged background firing to its averaged firing rate ± 1 sec relative to grooming onsets via t -tests with a False Discovery Rate (FDR) Q of 1% using the Benjamini and Hochberg method 80 , 81 . To examine and identify cell-groom pairs, among significantly modulated neurons defined above, we subtracted background activity from their firing rates during individual groom bouts and averaged their firing rates across time bins within 1 s prior to grooming onset (“pre”), and within 1 s following grooming onset (“during”).…”

A midbrain-thalamus-cortex circuit reorganizes cortical dynamics to initiate movement

“…These changes precede movement onset (64.3 (56-75) ms; mean (2.5%-97.5% confidence interval); blue dashed line in Figure 1G). Because activity along D go and CD response precede movement (Figure S1K), and because silencing of ALM results in loss of cued licking (Komiyama et al, 2010;Gao et al, 2018;Xu et al, 2019;Esmaeili et al, 2021;Bollu et al, 2021), we hypothesized that the mode switch is essential to initiate planned movement. We tested the hypothesis that the Go cue triggers non-selective D go signals in ALM, which then reorganizes movement-type-selective activity from CD delay to CD response to initiate movement.…”

“…An instruction informs movement type (e.g., movement direction or target; eye, tongue, arm, or orienting movements) and a Go cue after a delay releases planned actions and thereby movement onset. The anterior lateral motor (ALM) cortex, a part of MCx, is necessary for motor planning and execution of directional licking in mice (Komiyama et al, 2010;Guo et al, 2014bGuo et al, , 2018Xu et al, 2019;Esmaeili et al, 2021;Bollu et al, 2021). Stimulation of ALM triggers rhythmic licking (Komiyama et al, 2010;Li et al, 2015).…”

Thalamic input to motor cortex facilitates goal-directed action initiation

“…The anterior lateral motor cortex (ALM) is essential for planning and executing goal-directed licking, 11 , 12 , 18 , 19 and bilateral inactivation of ALM causes severe impairment of learned lick responses in mice. 20 – 23 Here, we unilaterally inactivated the ALM contralateral (left) to the whisker stimulus in mice performing the detection task by injecting the GABA A receptor agonist, muscimol ( Figures 1E and 1F ).…”