title: Flow of cortical activity underlying a tactile decision in mice.
abstract: Perceptual decisions involve distributed cortical activity. Does information flow sequentially from one cortical area to another, or do networks of interconnected areas contribute at the same time? Here we delineate when and how activity in specific areas drives a whisker-based decision in mice. A short-term memory component temporally separated tactile "sensation" and "action" (licking). Using optogenetic inhibition (spatial resolution, 2 mm; temporal resolution, 100 ms), we surveyed the neocortex for regions driving behavior during specific behavioral epochs. Barrel cortex was critical for sensation. During the short-term memory, unilateral inhibition of anterior lateral motor cortex biased responses to the ipsilateral side. Consistently, barrel cortex showed stimulus-specific activity during sensation, whereas motor cortex showed choice-specific preparatory activity and movement-related activity, consistent with roles in motor planning and movement. These results suggest serial information flow from sensory to motor areas during perceptual decision making.
authors.affiliation: Janelia Farm Research Campus, HHMI, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.
authors.forename: Zengcai V
authors.initials: ZV
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.affiliation: Janelia Farm Research Campus, HHMI, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.
authors.forename: Nuo
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Janelia Farm Research Campus, HHMI, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Huber
authors.affiliation: Janelia Farm Research Campus, HHMI, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.
authors.forename: Eran
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ophir
authors.affiliation: Janelia Farm Research Campus, HHMI, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA.
authors.forename: Diego
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gutnisky
authors.affiliation: McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Jonathan T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Ting
authors.affiliation: McGovern Institute for Brain Research and Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
authors.forename: Guoping
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Feng
authors.affiliation: Janelia Farm Research Campus, HHMI, Ashburn, VA 20147, USA. Electronic address: svobodak@janelia.hhmi.org.
authors.forename: Karel
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Svoboda
mesh_terms: D000200:Action Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D000075402:Channelrhodopsins; D003216:Conditioning, Operant / Q000502:physiology; D003657:Decision Making / Q000502:physiology*; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009039:Motion Perception; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D014110:Touch / Q000502:physiology*; D050495:Vesicular Inhibitory Amino Acid Transport Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D014738:Vibrissae / Q000294:innervation
chemical_list: D000075402:Channelrhodopsins; D050495:Vesicular Inhibitory Amino Acid Transport Proteins; C492244:Viaat protein, mouse; C485184:enhanced green fluorescent protein; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins