Cortical pattern generation during dexterous movement is input-driven

Britton A. Sauerbrei, Jian-Zhong Guo, Jeremy D. Cohen, Matteo Mischiati, Wendy Guo, Mayank Kabra, Nakul Verma, Brett Mensh, Kristin Branson and Adam W. Hantman ()
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Britton A. Sauerbrei: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Jian-Zhong Guo: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Jeremy D. Cohen: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Matteo Mischiati: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Wendy Guo: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Mayank Kabra: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Nakul Verma: Columbia University
Brett Mensh: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Kristin Branson: Howard Hughes Medical Institute
Adam W. Hantman: Howard Hughes Medical Institute

Nature, 2020, vol. 577, issue 7790, 386-391

Abstract: Abstract The motor cortex controls skilled arm movement by sending temporal patterns of activity to lower motor centres1. Local cortical dynamics are thought to shape these patterns throughout movement execution2–4. External inputs have been implicated in setting the initial state of the motor cortex5,6, but they may also have a pattern-generating role. Here we dissect the contribution of local dynamics and inputs to cortical pattern generation during a prehension task in mice. Perturbing cortex to an aberrant state prevented movement initiation, but after the perturbation was released, cortex either bypassed the normal initial state and immediately generated the pattern that controls reaching or failed to generate this pattern. The difference in these two outcomes was probably a result of external inputs. We directly investigated the role of inputs by inactivating the thalamus; this perturbed cortical activity and disrupted limb kinematics at any stage of the movement. Activation of thalamocortical axon terminals at different frequencies disrupted cortical activity and arm movement in a graded manner. Simultaneous recordings revealed that both thalamic activity and the current state of cortex predicted changes in cortical activity. Thus, the pattern generator for dexterous arm movement is distributed across multiple, strongly interacting brain regions.

Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-019-1869-9

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