Mouse Motor Cortex Coordinates the Behavioral Response to Unpredicted Sensory Feedback

This work is the beginning of a study investigating dynamic changes of electrophysiological and correlative behavioral response in rats before, during and after stroke in the motor cortex. The animals need training sessions to regularly perform the behavioral tests. The standard deviation of total paw touches in the cylinder test (n=4) and the time required to eat a single strand of pasta (n=3) decreased by a factor of 1.7 and 3.6 respectively after 5 days of training. Behaviorally, post-stroke, average cylinder touches decreased by a factor of 5.6, and pasta adjustments increased by a factor of 3.6 suggesting impairments due to stroke. The pre-stroke mean neural firing rate was 94 spikes per second (spk/s), this increased to 146 spk/s during the 20 minute stroke induction, and was only 4 spk/s 20 min post-stroke. The firing rate has increased to near pre-stroke levels in the 2nd and 3rd days following stroke.

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Distinct behavioral response of primary motor cortex stimulation in itch and pain after burn injury

Neuroscience Letters ◽

10.1016/j.neulet.2018.10.013 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 690 ◽

pp. 89-94 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Aurore Thibaut ◽

Emily A. Ohrtman ◽

Leon Morales-Quezada ◽

Laura C. Simko ◽

Colleen M. Ryan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Motor Cortex ◽

Behavioral Response ◽

Primary Motor Cortex ◽

Burn Injury ◽

Motor Cortex Stimulation

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Rapid Integration of Artificial Sensory Feedback during Operant Conditioning of Motor Cortex Neurons

Neuron ◽

10.1016/j.neuron.2017.01.023 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 93 (4) ◽

pp. 929-939.e6 ◽

Cited By ~ 36

Author(s):

Mario Prsa ◽

Gregorio L. Galiñanes ◽

Daniel Huber

Keyword(s):

Motor Cortex ◽

Operant Conditioning ◽

Sensory Feedback

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Perspectives on classical controversies about the motor cortex

Journal of Neurophysiology ◽

10.1152/jn.00795.2016 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 118 (3) ◽

pp. 1828-1848 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Mohsen Omrani ◽

Matthew T. Kaufman ◽

Nicholas G. Hatsopoulos ◽

Paul D. Cheney

Keyword(s):

Motor Cortex ◽

Upper Limb ◽

Sensory Feedback ◽

Primary Motor Cortex ◽

Movement Control ◽

Movement Kinematics ◽

Movement Dynamics ◽

Upper Limb Movements ◽

High Level

Primary motor cortex has been studied for more than a century, yet a consensus on its functional contribution to movement control is still out of reach. In particular, there remains controversy as to the level of control produced by motor cortex (“low-level” movement dynamics vs. “high-level” movement kinematics) and the role of sensory feedback. In this review, we present different perspectives on the two following questions: What does activity in motor cortex reflect? and How do planned motor commands interact with incoming sensory feedback during movement? The four authors each present their independent views on how they think the primary motor cortex (M1) controls movement. At the end, we present a dialogue in which the authors synthesize their views and suggest possibilities for moving the field forward. While there is not yet a consensus on the role of M1 or sensory feedback in the control of upper limb movements, such dialogues are essential to take us closer to one.

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Rotational dynamics in motor cortex are consistent with a feedback controller

10.1101/2020.11.17.387043 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Hari Teja Kalidindi ◽

Kevin P. Cross ◽

Timothy P. Lillicrap ◽

Mohsen Omrani ◽

Egidio Falotico ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Neural Networks ◽

Motor Cortex ◽

Somatosensory Cortex ◽

Sensory Feedback ◽

Feedback Controller ◽

Rotational Dynamics ◽

Rotational Structure ◽

List Type ◽

Neurophysiological Studies ◽

Recurrent Connections

SummaryRecent studies hypothesize that motor cortical (MC) dynamics are generated largely through its recurrent connections based on observations that MC activity exhibits rotational structure. However, behavioural and neurophysiological studies suggest that MC behaves like a feedback controller where continuous sensory feedback and interactions with other brain areas contribute substantially to MC processing. We investigated these apparently conflicting theories by building recurrent neural networks that controlled a model arm and received sensory feedback about the limb. Networks were trained to counteract perturbations to the limb and to reach towards spatial targets. Network activities and sensory feedback signals to the network exhibited rotational structure even when the recurrent connections were removed. Furthermore, neural recordings in monkeys performing similar tasks also exhibited rotational structure not only in MC but also in somatosensory cortex. Our results argue that rotational structure may reflect dynamics throughout voluntary motor circuits involved in online control of motor actions.HighlightsNeural networks with sensory feedback generate rotational dynamics during simulated posture and reaching tasksRotational dynamics are observed even without recurrent connections in the networkSimilar dynamics are observed not only in motor cortex, but also in somatosensory cortex of non-huma n primates as well as sensory feedback signalsResults highlight rotational dynamics may reflect internal dynamics, external inputs or any combination of the two.

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Convergence of proprioceptive and visual feedback on neurons in primary motor cortex

10.1101/2021.05.01.442274 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Kevin Patrick Cross ◽

Douglas J Cook ◽

Stephen H Scott

Keyword(s):

Motor Cortex ◽

Strong Convergence ◽

Motor Function ◽

Sensory Feedback ◽

Single Neuron ◽

Primary Motor Cortex ◽

Related Activity ◽

Feedback Processing ◽

Types Of Information ◽

Different Sources

An important aspect of motor function is our ability to rapidly generate goal-directed corrections for disturbances to the limb or behavioural goal. Primary motor cortex (M1) is a key region involved in feedback processing, yet we know little about how different sources of feedback are processed by M1. We examined feedback-related activity in M1 to compare how different sources (visual versus proprioceptive) and types of information (limb versus goal) are represented. We found sensory feedback had a broad influence on M1 activity with ~73% of neurons responding to at least one of the feedback sources. Information was also organized such that limb and goal feedback targeted the same neurons and evoked similar responses at the single-neuron and population levels indicating a strong convergence of feedback sources in M1.

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Rotational dynamics in motor cortex are consistent with a feedback controller

eLife ◽

10.7554/elife.67256 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 ◽

Author(s):

Hari Teja Kalidindi ◽

Kevin P Cross ◽

Timothy P Lillicrap ◽

Mohsen Omrani ◽

Egidio Falotico ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Motor Cortex ◽

Recurrent Neural Networks ◽

Sensory Feedback ◽

Feedback Controller ◽

Rotational Dynamics ◽

Rotational Structure ◽

Brain Areas ◽

Neural Recordings ◽

Neurophysiological Studies ◽

Motor Actions

Recent studies have identified rotational dynamics in motor cortex (MC) which many assume arise from intrinsic connections in MC. However, behavioural and neurophysiological studies suggest that MC behaves like a feedback controller where continuous sensory feedback and interactions with other brain areas contribute substantially to MC processing. We investigated these apparently conflicting theories by building recurrent neural networks that controlled a model arm and received sensory feedback from the limb. Networks were trained to counteract perturbations to the limb and to reach towards spatial targets. Network activities and sensory feedback signals to the network exhibited rotational structure even when the recurrent connections were removed. Furthermore, neural recordings in monkeys performing similar tasks also exhibited rotational structure not only in MC but also in somatosensory cortex. Our results argue that rotational structure may also reflect dynamics throughout the voluntary motor system involved in online control of motor actions.

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