Tactile processing in mouse cortex depends on action context

Eric A. Finkel; Yi-Ting Chang; Rajan Dasgupta; Emily E. Lubin; Duo Xu; Genki Minamisawa; Anna J. Chang; Jeremiah Y. Cohen; Daniel H. O’Connor

Cell Reports (Apr 2024)

Tactile processing in mouse cortex depends on action context

Eric A. Finkel,
Yi-Ting Chang,
Rajan Dasgupta,
Emily E. Lubin,
Duo Xu,
Genki Minamisawa,
Anna J. Chang,
Jeremiah Y. Cohen,
Daniel H. O’Connor

Affiliations

Eric A. Finkel: Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Yi-Ting Chang: Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Rajan Dasgupta: Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Emily E. Lubin: Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Duo Xu: Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Genki Minamisawa: Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Anna J. Chang: Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Jeremiah Y. Cohen: Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
Daniel H. O’Connor: Solomon H. Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Krieger Mind/Brain Institute, Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; Corresponding author

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 43, no. 4
p. 113991

Abstract

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Summary: The brain receives constant tactile input, but only a subset guides ongoing behavior. Actions associated with tactile stimuli thus endow them with behavioral relevance. It remains unclear how the relevance of tactile stimuli affects processing in the somatosensory (S1) cortex. We developed a cross-modal selection task in which head-fixed mice switched between responding to tactile stimuli in the presence of visual distractors or to visual stimuli in the presence of tactile distractors using licking movements to the left or right side in different blocks of trials. S1 spiking encoded tactile stimuli, licking actions, and direction of licking in response to tactile but not visual stimuli. Bidirectional optogenetic manipulations showed that sensory-motor activity in S1 guided behavior when touch but not vision was relevant. Our results show that S1 activity and its impact on behavior depend on the actions associated with a tactile stimulus.

CP: Neuroscience

Published in Cell Reports

ISSN: 2211-1247 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: Netherlands
LCC subjects: Science: Biology (General)
Website: http://www.cell.com/cell-reports/home

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