title: Origins of choice-related activity in mouse somatosensory cortex.
abstract: During perceptual decisions about faint or ambiguous sensory stimuli, even identical stimuli can produce different choices. Spike trains from sensory cortex neurons can predict trial-to-trial variability in choice. Choice-related spiking is widely studied as a way to link cortical activity to perception, but its origins remain unclear. Using imaging and electrophysiology, we found that mouse primary somatosensory cortex neurons showed robust choice-related activity during a tactile detection task. Spike trains from primary mechanoreceptive neurons did not predict choices about identical stimuli. Spike trains from thalamic relay neurons showed highly transient, weak choice-related activity. Intracellular recordings in cortex revealed a prolonged choice-related depolarization in most neurons that was not accounted for by feed-forward thalamic input. Top-down axons projecting from secondary to primary somatosensory cortex signaled choice. An intracellular measure of stimulus sensitivity determined which neurons converted choice-related depolarization into spiking. Our results reveal how choice-related spiking emerges across neural circuits and within single neurons.
authors.affiliation: The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience and Brain Science Institute, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Hongdian
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience and Brain Science Institute, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Sung E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience and Brain Science Institute, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Kyle S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Severson
authors.affiliation: The Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience and Brain Science Institute, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel H
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9193-6714
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: O'Connor
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D055724:Electrophysiological Phenomena; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008465:Mechanoreceptors / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D062308:Optogenetics; D018408:Patch-Clamp Techniques; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D017603:Signal Detection, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D055698:Touch Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D020651:Ventral Thalamic Nuclei / Q000502:physiology*; D014738:Vibrissae