Dataset Information

Independent representations of self-motion and object location in barrel cortex output.

ABSTRACT: During active tactile exploration, the dynamic patterns of touch are transduced to electrical signals and transformed by the brain into a mental representation of the object under investigation. This transformation from sensation to perception is thought to be a major function of the mammalian cortex. In primary somatosensory cortex (S1) of mice, layer 5 (L5) pyramidal neurons are major outputs to downstream areas that influence perception, decision-making, and motor control. We investigated self-motion and touch representations in L5 of S1 with juxtacellular loose-seal patch recordings of optogenetically identified excitatory neurons. We found that during rhythmic whisker movement, 54 of 115 active neurons (47%) represented self-motion. This population was significantly more modulated by whisker angle than by phase. Upon active touch, a distinct pattern of activity was evoked across L5, which represented the whisker angle at the time of touch. Object location was decodable with submillimeter precision from the touch-evoked spike counts of a randomly sampled handful of these neurons. These representations of whisker angle during self-motion and touch were independent, both in the selection of which neurons were active and in the angle-tuning preference of coactive neurons. Thus, the output of S1 transiently shifts from a representation of self-motion to an independent representation of explored object location during active touch.

SUBMITTER: Cheung JA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7665803 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Independent representations of self-motion and object location in barrel cortex output.

Cheung Jonathan Andrew JA Maire Phillip P Kim Jinho J Lee Kiana K Flynn Garrett G Hires Samuel Andrew SA

PLoS biology 20201103 11

During active tactile exploration, the dynamic patterns of touch are transduced to electrical signals and transformed by the brain into a mental representation of the object under investigation. This transformation from sensation to perception is thought to be a major function of the mammalian cortex. In primary somatosensory cortex (S1) of mice, layer 5 (L5) pyramidal neurons are major outputs to downstream areas that influence perception, decision-making, and motor control. We investigated sel ...[more]

PMID: 33141817

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Dataset Information

Independent representations of self-motion and object location in barrel cortex output.

Publications

Independent representations of self-motion and object location in barrel cortex output.

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