Target-specific membrane potential dynamics of neocortical projection neurons during goal-directed behavior.
Goal-directed behavior involves distributed neuronal circuits in the mammalian brain, including diverse regions of neocortex. However, the cellular basis of long-range cortico-cortical signaling during goal-directed behavior is poorly understood. Here, we recorded membrane potential of excitatory layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons in primary somatosensory barrel cortex (S1) projecting to either primary motor cortex (M1) or secondary somatosensory cortex (S2) during a whisker detection task, in which thirsty mice learn to lick for water reward in response to a whisker deflection. Whisker stimulation in 'Good performer' mice, but not 'Naive' mice, evoked long-lasting biphasic depolarization correlated with task performance in S2-projecting (S2-p) neurons, but not M1-projecting (M1-p) neurons. Furthermore, S2-p neurons, but not M1-p neurons, became excited during spontaneous unrewarded licking in 'Good performer' mice, but not in 'Naive' mice. Thus, a learning-induced, projection-specific signal from S1 to S2 may contribute to goal-directed sensorimotor transformation of whisker sensation into licking motor output.
Laboratory of Sensory Processing, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.|Department of Neuroscience II, Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Nagoya University, Nagoya, Japan.
Takayuki
0000-0002-1849-9837
T
Yamashita
Laboratory of Sensory Processing, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.
Carl Ch
0000-0003-3344-4495
CCh
Petersen
D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D006040:Goals; D007858:Learning; D008564:Membrane Potentials; D051379:Mice; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D019579:Neocortex / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D013003:Somatosensory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*
goal-directed sensorimotor learning; mouse; neocortical projection neurons; neuroscience; primary somatosensory barrel cortex; secondary somatosensory cortex; whisker motor cortex; whole-cell membrane potential recordings