scholarly journals Low-dimensional and monotonic preparatory activity in mouse anterior lateral motor cortex

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hidehiko K. Inagaki ◽  
Miho Inagaki ◽  
Sandro Romani ◽  
Karel Svoboda
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Model Organism ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Direction Selectivity ◽  
Movement Direction ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Preparatory Activity ◽  
Mixed Coding ◽  
Low Dimensional

AbstractNeurons in multiple brain regions fire trains of action potentials anticipating specific movements, but this ‘preparatory activity’ has rarely been compared across behavioral tasks in the same brain region. We compared preparatory activity in auditory and tactile delayed-response tasks, with directional licking as the output. The anterior lateral motor cortex (ALM) is necessary for motor planning in both tasks. Multiple features of ALM preparatory activity during the delay epoch were similar across tasks. First, majority of neurons showed direction-selective activity and spatially intermingled neurons were selective for either movement direction. Second, many cells showed mixed coding of sensory stimulus and licking direction, with a bias toward licking direction. Third, delay activity was largely monotonic and low-dimensional. Fourth, pairs of neurons with similar direction selectivity showed high spike-count correlations. Our study forms the foundation to analyze the neural circuits underlying preparatory activity in a genetically tractable model organism.

scholarly journals Low-Dimensional and Monotonic Preparatory Activity in Mouse Anterior Lateral Motor Cortex

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (17) ◽  
pp. 4163-4185 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hidehiko K. Inagaki ◽  
Miho Inagaki ◽  
Sandro Romani ◽  
Karel Svoboda
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Preparatory Activity ◽  
Low Dimensional

scholarly journals Distinct descending motor cortex pathways and their roles in movement

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael N. Economo ◽  
Sarada Viswanathan ◽  
Bosiljka Tasic ◽  
Erhan Bas ◽  
Johan Winnubst ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Control ◽  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Pyramidal Tract ◽  
Transcriptional Profiling ◽  
Motor Command ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Preparatory Activity ◽  
Output Neurons ◽  
Response Task ◽  
Delayed Response Task

ABSTRACTActivity in motor cortex predicts specific movements, seconds before they are initiated. This preparatory activity has been observed in L5 descending ‘pyramidal tract’ (PT) neurons. A key question is how preparatory activity can be maintained without causing movement, and how preparatory activity is eventually converted to a motor command to trigger appropriate movements. We used single cell transcriptional profiling and axonal reconstructions to identify two types of PT neuron. Both types share projections to multiple targets in the basal ganglia and brainstem. One type projects to thalamic regions that connect back to motor cortex. In a delayed-response task, these neurons produced early preparatory activity that persisted until the movement. The second type projects to motor centers in the medulla and produced late preparatory activity and motor commands. These results indicate that two motor cortex output neurons are specialized for distinct roles in motor control.

scholarly journals Divergent sensory processing converges in frontal cortex for a planned motor response

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vahid Esmaeili ◽  
Keita Tamura ◽  
Samuel P. Muscinelli ◽  
Alireza Modirshanechi ◽  
Marta Boscaglia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Frontal Cortex ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Inhibitory Response ◽  
External Information ◽  
Wide Field ◽  
List Type ◽  
Purposeful Behavior ◽  
Preparatory Activity

SUMMARYPurposeful behavior requires planning of actions based on external information. However, neuronal mechanisms converting sensory input into a motor plan remain elusive. Here, we combined wide-field calcium imaging, multi-area single-neuron recordings and focal optogenetic inactivation to reveal the precise sequence of cortical activity transforming sensory information into motor planning in mice trained to respond to a brief whisker stimulus by licking after a delay. We found that upon learning, the sensory information, initially highly-localized, rapidly spreads to diverse motor and higher-order areas, together with transient deactivation of orofacial regions, converging during the delay period to a focalized region of the frontal cortex. The secondary whisker motor cortex (wM2) appears as a key relay of this sensorimotor transformation, showing the earliest learning-enhanced response to the whisker stimulus. Our results suggest a specific cortical circuit with wM2 acquiring a pivotal role in transforming whisker information into preparatory activity for goal-directed motor planning.HighlightsCortex-wide, task-epoch specific causal neuronal dynamics of sensorimotor learningSensory information converges to a focal frontal region critical for delay-responseOrofacial cortex acquired an inhibitory response with delayed lick learningSecondary whisker motor cortex is a key node converting whisker input to lick plan

scholarly journals Pregnancy-related changes in connections from the cervix to forebrain and hypothalamus in mice

Reproduction ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 140 (1) ◽  
pp. 155-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven M Yellon ◽  
Lauren A Grisham ◽  
Genevieve M Rambau ◽  
Thomas J Lechuga ◽  
Michael A Kirby
Keyword(s):  
Image Analysis ◽  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Paraventricular Nucleus ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
Pseudorabies Virus ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Autonomic Functions ◽  
Effector Functions ◽  
Periventricular Nucleus ◽  
Pregnant Mice

The transneuronal tracer pseudorabies virus was used to test the hypothesis that connections from the cervix to the forebrain and hypothalamus are maintained with pregnancy. The virus was injected into the cervix of nonpregnant or pregnant mice, and, after 5 days, virus-labeled cells and fibers were found in specific forebrain regions and, most prominently, in portions of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus. With pregnancy, fewer neurons and fibers were evident in most brain regions compared to that in nonpregnant mice. In particular, little or no virus was found in the medial and ventral parvocellular subdivisions, anteroventral periventricular nucleus, or motor cortex in pregnant mice. By contrast, labeling of virus was sustained in the dorsal hypothalamus and suprachiasmatic nucleus in all groups. Based upon image analysis of digitized photomicrographs, the area with label in the rostral and medial parvocellular paraventricular nucleus and magnocellular subdivisions was significantly reduced in mice whose cervix was injected with virus during pregnancy than in nonpregnant mice. The findings indicate that connections from the cervix to brain regions that are involved in sensory input and integrative autonomic functions are reduced during pregnancy. The findings raise the possibility that remaining pathways from the cervix to the forebrain and hypothalamus may be important for control of pituitary neuroendocrine secretion, as well as for effector functions in the cervix as pregnancy nears term.

Comparing information about arm movement direction in single channels of local and epicortical field potentials from monkey and human motor cortex

2004 ◽  
Vol 98 (4-6) ◽  
pp. 498-506 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carsten Mehring ◽  
Martin Paul Nawrot ◽  
Simone Cardoso de Oliveira ◽  
Eilon Vaadia ◽  
Andreas Schulze-Bonhage ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Arm Movement ◽  
Movement Direction ◽  
Single Channels ◽  
Field Potentials ◽  
Human Motor Cortex ◽  
Human Motor

scholarly journals A novel approach for locating mice brain regions of Cryptococcus neoformans CNS invasion

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. S136-S143
Author(s):  
Chunting He ◽  
Qingfen Chen ◽  
Longkun Zhu
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Cryptococcus Neoformans ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Thalamic Nucleus ◽  
Molecular Layer ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Dorsal Lateral Geniculate Nucleus ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Stratum Lucidum ◽  
Lateral Posterior

Aim of this study was to locate the brain regions where Cryptococcus interact with brain cells and invade into brain. After 7 days of intratracheal inocula-tion of GFP-tagged Cryptococcus neoformans strains H99, serial cryosections (10 ?m) from 3 C57 BL/6 J mice brains were imaged with immunofluorescence microscopy. GFP-tagged H99 were found in some brain regions such as primary motor cortex-secondary motor cortex, caudate putamen, stratum lucidum of hippocampus, field CA1 of hippocampus, dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus, lateral posterior thalamic nucleus, laterorostral part, lateral posterior thalamic nucleus, mediorostral part, retrosplenial agranular cortex, lateral area of secondary visual cortex, and lacunosum molecular layer of the hippocampus. The results will be very useful for further exploring the mechanism of C. neoformans infection of brain. 

Preparatory activity in motor cortex reflects learning of local visuomotor skills

2003 ◽  
Vol 6 (8) ◽  
pp. 882-890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rony Paz ◽  
Thomas Boraud ◽  
Chen Natan ◽  
Hagai Bergman ◽  
Eilon Vaadia
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Preparatory Activity ◽  
Visuomotor Skills

Changes in motor cortex activity during reaching movements with similar hand paths but different arm postures

1995 ◽  
Vol 73 (6) ◽  
pp. 2563-2567 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. H. Scott ◽  
J. F. Kalaska
Keyword(s):  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Sagittal Plane ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Reaching Movements ◽  
Movement Direction ◽  
Tonic Activity ◽  
Population Vector ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Direction Of Movement ◽  
Kinematics And Kinetics

1. Neuronal activity was recorded in the motor cortex of a monkey that performed reaching movements with the use of two different arm postures. In the first posture (control), the monkey used its natural arm orientation, approximately in the sagittal plane. In the second posture (abducted), the monkey had to adduct its elbow nearly to shoulder level to grasp the handle. The path of the hand between targets was similar in both arm postures, but the joint kinematics and kinetics were different. 2. In both postures, the activity of single cells was often broadly tuned with movement direction and static arm posture over the targets. In a large proportion of cells, either the level of tonic activity, the directional tuning, or both, varied between the two postures during the movement and target hold periods. 3. For most directions of movement, there was a statistically significant difference in the direction of the population vector for the two arm postures. Furthermore, whereas the population vector tended to point in the direction of movement for the control posture, there was a poorer correspondence between the direction of movement and the population vector for the abducted posture. These observed changes are inconsistent with the notion that the motor cortex encodes purely hand trajectory in space.

scholarly journals Area-specific thalamocortical synchronization underlies the transition from motor planning to execution

2021 ◽  
Vol 118 (6) ◽  
pp. e2012658118
Author(s):  
Abdulraheem Nashef ◽  
Rea Mitelman ◽  
Ran Harel ◽  
Mati Joshua ◽  
Yifat Prut
Keyword(s):  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Premotor Cortex ◽  
Cell Activity ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Simultaneous Recording ◽  
Delayed Response ◽  
Neural Responses ◽  
Cortical Cells ◽  
Reaching Task ◽  
Motor Thalamus

We studied correlated firing between motor thalamic and cortical cells in monkeys performing a delayed-response reaching task. Simultaneous recording of thalamocortical activity revealed that around movement onset, thalamic cells were positively correlated with cell activity in the primary motor cortex but negatively correlated with the activity of the premotor cortex. The differences in the correlation contrasted with the average neural responses, which were similar in all three areas. Neuronal correlations reveal functional cooperation and opposition between the motor thalamus and distinct motor cortical areas with specific roles in planning vs. performing movements. Thus, by enhancing and suppressing motor and premotor firing, the motor thalamus can facilitate the transition from a motor plan to execution.

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