Thalamocortical modulation of intracortical computation (TIC)
Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology
Final Report Abstract
The brain generates movements to accomplish specific goals. Traditionally, studies have focused on the motor cortex, where neurons respond to kinematic factors like movement direction, distance, or speed. However, recent studies have shown that movement-related activity is widely distributed across the brain. Our project investigated this distributed brain activity by performing massive parallel recordings of neuronal activity in mice while they performed a reaching task. We measured the activity of over 37,000 neurons from several cortical and subcortical areas of the brain. By applying a dimensionality reduction approach, we identified patterns of population activity that were consistent across different sessions, animals, and regions. A key finding was that the global population activity did not just reflect movement but rather followed the internal expectations of the mice. The population activity reflected how close the mice were to reaching their goal, which in this case was a water droplet. This suggests that brain-wide activity during goal-directed movements can represent proximity to a specific goal. These findings are significant because they imply that brain regions work together to predict the outcome of actions, rather than the action itself, highlighting the integrative processing of sensory, cognitive, and motor information.
Publications
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Cellular and Synaptic Diversity of Layer 2-3 Pyramidal Neurons in Human Individuals.
Planert, Henrike; Mittermaier, Franz Xaver; Grosser, Sabine; Fidzinski, Pawel; Schneider, Ulf Christoph; Radbruch, Helena; Onken, Julia; Holtkamp, Martin; Schmitz, Dietmar; Alle, Henrik; Vida, Imre; Geiger, Jörg Rolf Paul & Peng, Yangfan
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Spatially structured inhibition defined by polarized parvalbumin interneuron axons promotes head direction tuning. Science Advances, 7(25).
Peng, Yangfan; Barreda, Tomas Federico J.; Pfeiffer, Paul; Drangmeister, Moritz; Schreiber, Susanne; Vida, Imre & Geiger, Jörg R.P.
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Current approaches to characterize micro- and macroscale circuit mechanisms of Parkinson’s disease in rodent models. Experimental Neurology, 351, 114008.
Peng, Yangfan; Schöneberg, Nina; Esposito, Maria Soledad; Geiger, Jörg R.P.; Sharott, Andrew & Tovote, Philip
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Directed and acyclic synaptic connectivity in the human layer 2-3 cortical microcircuit. Science, 384(6693), 338-343.
Peng, Yangfan; Bjelde, Antje; Aceituno, Pau Vilimelis; Mittermaier, Franz X.; Planert, Henrike; Grosser, Sabine; Onken, Julia; Faust, Katharina; Kalbhenn, Thilo; Simon, Matthias; Radbruch, Helena; Fidzinski, Pawel; Schmitz, Dietmar; Alle, Henrik; Holtkamp, Martin; Vida, Imre; Grewe, Benjamin F. & Geiger, Jörg R. P.
