scholarly journals Visual, delay and oculomotor timing and tuning in macaque dorsal pulvinar during instructed and free choice memory saccades

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lukas Schneider ◽  
Adan-Ulises Dominguez-Vargas ◽  
Lydia Gibson ◽  
Melanie Wilke ◽  
Igor Kagan
Keyword(s):  
Free Choice ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Delay Period ◽  
Movement Planning ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
Saccade Onset ◽  
Electrophysiological Recordings ◽  
Functional Aspects ◽  
Oculomotor Response

Causal perturbation studies suggest that the primate dorsal pulvinar (dPul) plays a crucial role in target selection and saccade planning, but many of its basic visuomotor neuronal properties are unclear. While some functional aspects of dPul and interconnected frontoparietal areas - such as ipsilesional choice bias after inactivation - are similar, it is not known if dPul neurons share oculomotor response properties of cortical circuitry. In particular, the delay period and choice-related activity have not been explored. Here we investigated visuomotor timing and tuning in macaque dPul during instructed and free choice memory saccades using electrophysiological recordings. Most units (80%) showed significant visual (16%), visuomotor (29%) or motor-related (35%) responses. Visual cue responses were mainly contralaterally-tuned; motor responses showed weak contralateral bias. Saccade-related responses (enhancement and suppression) were more common (64%) than cue-driven responses (45%). Pre-saccadic enhancement was less frequent (9-15% depending on the definition), and only few units exhibited classical visuomotor patterns such as a combination of cue and continuous delay period activity up to the saccade onset, or pre-saccadic ramping. Instead, activity was often suppressed during movement planning (30%) and execution phases (19%). Interestingly, most spatially-selective neurons did not encode the upcoming decision during the delay in free choice trials. Thus, in absence of a visible goal, the dorsal pulvinar has only a limited role in the prospective motor planning, with response patterns partially complementary to its frontoparietal cortical partners. Conversely, prevalent cue and post-saccadic responses imply that the dorsal pulvinar participates in integrating spatial goals with processing across saccades.

scholarly journals Active information maintenance in working memory by a sensory cortex

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaoxing Zhang ◽  
Wenjun Yan ◽  
Wenliang Wang ◽  
Hongmei Fan ◽  
Ruiqing Hou ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Piriform Cortex ◽  
Delay Period ◽  
Sensory Cortex ◽  
Critical Function ◽  
Impaired Performance ◽  
Anterior Piriform Cortex ◽  
Electrophysiological Recordings ◽  
Dual Task Paradigm ◽  
The Brain

SummaryWorking memory is a critical function of the brain to maintain and manipulate information over delay periods of seconds. Sensory areas have been implicated in working memory; however, it is debated whether the delay-period activity of sensory regions is actively maintaining information or passively reflecting top-down inputs. We hereby examined the anterior piriform cortex, an olfactory cortex, in head-fixed mice performing a series of olfactory working memory tasks. Information maintenance is necessary in these tasks, especially in a dual-task paradigm in which mice are required to perform another distracting task while actively maintaining information during the delay period. Optogenetic suppression of the piriform cortex activity during the delay period impaired performance in all the tasks.Furthermore, electrophysiological recordings revealed that the delay-period activity of the anterior piriform cortex encoded odor information with or without the distracting task.Thus, this sensory cortex is critical for active information maintenance in working memory.

scholarly journals Enhancing GABAergic Tone in the Rostral Nucleus of the Solitary Tract Reconfigures Sensorimotor Neural Activity

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua D. Sammons ◽  
Caroline E. Bass ◽  
Jonathan D. Victor ◽  
Patricia M. Di Lorenzo
Keyword(s):  
Neural Activity ◽  
Inhibitory Activity ◽  
Nucleus Tractus Solitarius ◽  
Artificial Saliva ◽  
Experimental Chamber ◽  
Response Patterns ◽  
Related Activity ◽  
Electrophysiological Recordings ◽  
Rostral Nucleus ◽  
The Relationship

ABSTRACTRecent work has shown that most cells in the rostral, gustatory portion of the nucleus tractus solitarius (rNTS) in awake, freely licking rats show lick-related firing. However, the relationship between taste-related and lick-related activity in rNTS remains unclear. Here, we tested if GABA-derived inhibitory activity regulates the balance of lick- and taste-driven neuronal activity. Combinatorial viral tools were used to restrict expression of ChR2-EYFP to GAD1+ GABAergic neurons. Viral infusions were bilateral in rNTS. 2-4wks later, an optical fiber attached to 8-16 drivable microwires was implanted into the rNTS. After recovery, water-deprived rats were presented with taste stimuli in an experimental chamber. Trials were 5 consecutive taste licks [NaCl, KCl, NH4Cl, sucrose, MSG/IMP, citric acid, quinine, or artificial saliva (AS)] separated by 5 AS licks on a VR5 schedule. Each taste lick triggered a 1s train of laser light (25Hz; 473nm; 8-10mW) in a random half of the trials. In all, 113 cells were recorded in the rNTS, 50 responded to one or more taste stimuli without GABA enhancement. Selective changes in response magnitude (spike count) within cells shifted across unit patterns but preserved inter-stimulus relationships. Cells where enhanced GABAergic tone increased lick coherence conveyed more information distinguishing basic taste qualities and different salts than other cells. In addition, GABA activation significantly amplified the amount of information that discriminated palatable vs. unpalatable tastants. By dynamically regulating lick coherence and remodeling the across-unit response patterns to taste, enhancing GABAergic tone in rNTS reconfigures the neural activity reflecting sensation and movement.Significance StatementThe rostral nucleus tractus solitarius (rNTS) is the first structure in the central gustatory pathway. Electrophysiological recordings from the rNTS in awake, freely-licking animals show that cells in this area have lick- as well as taste-related activity, but the relationship between these characteristics is not well understood. Here, we showed evidence that GABA activation can dynamically regulate both of these two properties in rNTS cells to enhance the information conveyed, especially about palatable vs. unpalatable tastants. These data provide insights into the role of inhibitory activity in the rNTS.

scholarly journals Neural correlates of target selection for reaching movements in superior colliculus

2015 ◽  
Vol 113 (5) ◽  
pp. 1414-1422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joo-Hyun Song ◽  
Robert M. McPeek
Keyword(s):  
Superior Colliculus ◽  
Target Selection ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Delay Period ◽  
Reaching Movements ◽  
Intermediate Layers ◽  
Arm Reaching ◽  
Priority Map ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Selection For

We recently demonstrated that inactivation of the primate superior colliculus (SC) causes a deficit in target selection for arm-reaching movements when the reach target is located in the inactivated field (Song JH, Rafal RD, McPeek RM. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 108: E1433–E1440, 2011). This is consistent with the notion that the SC is part of a general-purpose target selection network beyond eye movements. To understand better the role of SC activity in reach target selection, we examined how individual SC neurons in the intermediate layers discriminate a reach target from distractors. Monkeys reached to touch a color oddball target among distractors while maintaining fixation. We found that many SC neurons robustly discriminate the goal of the reaching movement before the onset of the reach even though no saccade is made. To identify these cells in the context of conventional SC cell classification schemes, we also recorded visual, delay-period, and saccade-related responses in a delayed saccade task. On average, SC cells that discriminated the reach target from distractors showed significantly higher visual and delay-period activity than nondiscriminating cells, but there was no significant difference in saccade-related activity. Whereas a majority of SC neurons that discriminated the reach target showed significant delay-period activity, all nondiscriminating cells lacked such activity. We also found that some cells without delay-period activity did discriminate the reach target from distractors. We conclude that the majority of intermediate-layer SC cells discriminate a reach target from distractors, consistent with the idea that the SC contains a priority map used for effector-independent target selection.

scholarly journals Motor planning brings human primary somatosensory cortex into action-specific preparatory states

eLife ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giacomo Ariani ◽  
J Andrew Pruszynski ◽  
Jörn Diedrichsen
Keyword(s):  
Somatosensory Cortex ◽  
Motor Neurons ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Specific Activity ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Movement Control ◽  
Movement Planning ◽  
Primary Somatosensory Cortex

Motor planning plays a critical role in producing fast and accurate movement. Yet, the neural processes that occur in human primary motor and somatosensory cortex during planning, and how they relate to those during movement execution, remain poorly understood. Here we used 7T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and a delayed movement paradigm to study single finger movement planning and execution. The inclusion of no-go trials and variable delays allowed us to separate what are typically overlapping planning and execution brain responses. Although our univariate results show widespread deactivation during finger planning, multivariate pattern analysis revealed finger-specific activity patterns in contralateral primary somatosensory cortex (S1), which predicted the planned finger action. Surprisingly, these activity patterns were as informative as those found in contralateral primary motor cortex (M1). Control analyses ruled out the possibility that the detected information was an artifact of subthreshold movements during the preparatory delay. Furthermore, we observed that finger-specific activity patterns during planning were highly correlated to those during execution. These findings reveal that motor planning activates the specific S1 and M1 circuits that are engaged during the execution of a finger press, while activity in both regions is overall suppressed. We propose that preparatory states in S1 may improve movement control through changes in sensory processing or via direct influence of spinal motor neurons.

scholarly journals Modulation of Initial Movement for Double Potential Targets With Specific Time Constraints

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryoji Onagawa ◽  
Kazutoshi Kudo
Keyword(s):  
Motor Planning ◽  
Time Constraint ◽  
Movement Planning ◽  
Time Constraints ◽  
Specific Time ◽  
Target Condition ◽  
Single Target ◽  
Goal Directed Behavior ◽  
Initial Movement

Abstract In goal-directed behavior, individuals are often required to plan and execute a movement with multiple competing reach targets simultaneously. The time constraint assigned to the target is an important factor that affect the initial movement planning, but the adjustments made to the starting behavior considering the time constraints specific to each target have not yet been clarified. The current study examined how humans adjusted their motor planning for double potential targets with independent time constraints under a go-before-you-know situation. The results revealed that the initial movements were modulated depending on the time constraints for potential targets. However, under tight time constraints, the performance in the double-target condition was lower than the single-target condition, which was a control condition implemented to estimate performance when one target is ignored. These results indicate that the initial movement for multiple potential targets with independent time constraints can be modified, but the planning is suboptimal.

scholarly journals Prolonged response time helps eliminate residual errors in visuomotor adaptation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Langsdorf ◽  
Jana Maresch ◽  
Mathias Hegele ◽  
Samuel D. McDougle ◽  
Raphael Schween
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Visuomotor Adaptation ◽  
Movement Planning ◽  
Planning Time ◽  
Full Compensation ◽  
Speed Accuracy ◽  
Residual Errors ◽  
Prolonged Response ◽  
Accuracy Tradeoff

AbstractOne persistent curiosity in visuomotor adaptation tasks is that participants often do not reach maximal performance. This incomplete asymptote has been explained as a consequence of obligatory computations within the implicit adaptation system, such as an equilibrium between learning and forgetting. A body of recent work has shown that in standard adaptation tasks, cognitive strategies operate alongside implicit learning. We reasoned that incomplete learning in adaptation tasks may primarily reflect a speed-accuracy tradeoff on time-consuming motor planning. Across three experiments, we find evidence supporting this hypothesis, showing that hastened motor planning may primarily lead to under-compensation. When an obligatory waiting period was administered before movement start, participants were able to fully counteract imposed perturbations (Experiment 1). Inserting the same delay between trials – rather than during movement planning – did not induce full compensation, suggesting that the motor planning interval influences the learning asymptote (Experiment 2). In the last experiment (Experiment 3), we asked participants to continuously report their movement intent. We show that emphasizing explicit re-aiming strategies (and concomitantly increasing planning time) also lead to complete asymptotic learning. Findings from all experiments support the hypothesis that incomplete adaptation is, in part, the result of an intrinsic speed-accuracy tradeoff, perhaps related to cognitive strategies that require parametric attentional reorienting from the visual target to the goal.

scholarly journals Prolonged reaction times help to eliminate residual errors in visuomotor adaptation

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Langsdorf ◽  
Jana Maresch ◽  
Mathias Hegele ◽  
Samuel D. McDougle ◽  
Raphael Schween
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Strategies ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Reaction Times ◽  
Visuomotor Adaptation ◽  
Movement Planning ◽  
Planning Time ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Full Compensation ◽  
Speed Accuracy ◽  
Residual Errors

AbstractOne persistent curiosity in visuomotor adaptation tasks is that participants often do not reach maximal performance. This incomplete asymptote has been explained as a consequence of obligatory computations within the implicit adaptation system, such as an equilibrium between learning and forgetting. A body of recent work has shown that in standard adaptation tasks, cognitive strategies operate alongside implicit learning. We reasoned that incomplete learning in adaptation tasks may primarily reflect a speed-accuracy trade-off on time-consuming motor planning. Across three experiments, we find evidence supporting this hypothesis, showing that hastened motor planning may primarily lead to under-compensation. When an obligatory waiting period was administered before movement start, participants were able to fully counteract imposed perturbations (experiment 1). Inserting the same delay between trials - rather than during movement planning - did not induce full compensation, suggesting that the motor planning interval predicts the learning asymptote (experiment 2). In the last experiment, we asked participants to continuously report their movement intent. We show that emphasizing explicit re-aiming strategies (and concomitantly increasing planning time) also lead to complete asymptotic learning. Findings from all experiments support the hypothesis that incomplete adaptation is, in part, the result of an intrinsic speed-accuracy trade-off, perhaps related to cognitive strategies that require parametric attentional reorienting from the visual target to the goal.

Influence of Viscous Loads on Motor Planning

2007 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 870-877 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kurt A. Thoroughman ◽  
Wei Wang ◽  
Dimitre N. Tomov
Keyword(s):  
Force Field ◽  
Human Behavior ◽  
Motor Planning ◽  
Movement Planning ◽  
Viscous Force ◽  
Learned Behavior ◽  
Viscous Forces ◽  
Minimum Jerk ◽  
Human Arm ◽  
Minimum Torque

Here we computationally investigate how encumbering the hand could alter predictions made by the minimum torque change (MTC) and minimum endpoint variance hypotheses (MEPV) of movement planning. After minutes of training, people have made arm trajectories in a robot-generated viscous force field that were similar to previous baseline trajectories without the force field. We simulate the human arm interacting with this viscous load. We found that the viscous forces clearly differentiated MTC and MEPV predictions from both minimum-jerk predictions and from human behavior. We conclude that learned behavior in the viscous environment could arise from minimizing kinematic costs but could not arise from a minimization of either torque change or endpoint variance.

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