A cortico-collicular pathway for motor planning in a memory-dependent perceptual decision task

Chunyu A. Duan (), Yuxin Pan, Guofen Ma, Taotao Zhou, Siyu Zhang and Ning-long Xu ()
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Chunyu A. Duan: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yuxin Pan: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Guofen Ma: Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
Taotao Zhou: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Siyu Zhang: Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine
Ning-long Xu: Chinese Academy of Sciences

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: Abstract Survival in a dynamic environment requires animals to plan future actions based on past sensory evidence, known as motor planning. However, the neuronal circuits underlying this crucial brain function remain elusive. Here, we employ projection-specific imaging and perturbation methods to investigate the direct pathway linking two key nodes in the motor planning network, the secondary motor cortex (M2) and the midbrain superior colliculus (SC), in mice performing a memory-dependent perceptual decision task. We find dynamic coding of choice information in SC-projecting M2 neurons during motor planning and execution, and disruption of this information by inhibiting M2 terminals in SC selectively impaired decision maintenance. Furthermore, we show that while both excitatory and inhibitory SC neurons receive synaptic inputs from M2, these SC subpopulations display differential temporal patterns in choice coding during behavior. Our results reveal the dynamic recruitment of the premotor-collicular pathway as a circuit mechanism for motor planning.

Date: 2021
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22547-9

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