A cell-type-specific error-correction signal in the posterior parietal cortex

Jonathan Green (), Carissa A. Bruno, Lisa Traunmüller, Jennifer Ding, Siniša Hrvatin, Daniel E. Wilson, Thomas Khodadad, Jonathan Samuels, Michael E. Greenberg and Christopher D. Harvey ()
Additional contact information
Jonathan Green: Harvard Medical School
Carissa A. Bruno: Harvard Medical School
Lisa Traunmüller: Harvard Medical School
Jennifer Ding: Harvard Medical School
Siniša Hrvatin: Harvard Medical School
Daniel E. Wilson: Harvard Medical School
Thomas Khodadad: Harvard Medical School
Jonathan Samuels: Harvard Medical School
Michael E. Greenberg: Harvard Medical School
Christopher D. Harvey: Harvard Medical School

Nature, 2023, vol. 620, issue 7973, 366-373

Abstract: Abstract Neurons in the posterior parietal cortex contribute to the execution of goal-directed navigation1 and other decision-making tasks2–4. Although molecular studies have catalogued more than 50 cortical cell types5, it remains unclear what distinct functions they have in this area. Here we identified a molecularly defined subset of somatostatin (Sst) inhibitory neurons that, in the mouse posterior parietal cortex, carry a cell-type-specific error-correction signal for navigation. We obtained repeatable experimental access to these cells using an adeno-associated virus in which gene expression is driven by an enhancer that functions specifically in a subset of Sst cells6. We found that during goal-directed navigation in a virtual environment, this subset of Sst neurons activates in a synchronous pattern that is distinct from the activity of surrounding neurons, including other Sst neurons. Using in vivo two-photon photostimulation and ex vivo paired patch-clamp recordings, we show that nearby cells of this Sst subtype excite each other through gap junctions, revealing a self-excitation circuit motif that contributes to the synchronous activity of this cell type. These cells selectively activate as mice execute course corrections for deviations in their virtual heading during navigation towards a reward location, for both self-induced and experimentally induced deviations. We propose that this subtype of Sst neurons provides a self-reinforcing and cell-type-specific error-correction signal in the posterior parietal cortex that may help with the execution and learning of accurate goal-directed navigation trajectories.

Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-023-06357-1 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:620:y:2023:i:7973:d:10.1038_s41586-023-06357-1

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06357-1

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().