Cortex commands the performance of skilled movement
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, United States
Figures
Figure 1
Head-fixed, cued, multi-step, prehension task.
(A) Schematic of behavioral arena. Mice reached for and grabbed a food pellet presented on a turntable after an auditory cue. High-speed, near-infrared-sensitive cameras captured video of behavior …
Figure 2 with 2 supplements
Initiation of head-fixed prehension behavior requires contralateral sensorimotor cortex.
Optogenetic stimulation of GABAergic inhibitory neurons in Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice was used to suppress specific cortical areas, as depicted in the schematic. Laser emission (40 Hz sinusoidal …
Figure 2—figure supplement 1
Quantification of optogenetic laser intensity at different neural depths.
(A) Schematic of laser intensity measurements. A custom-made, quantum dot-based photodetector (expanded on right, red is quantum dot fluorescence) and a fiber-coupled 473 nm laser were positioned …
Figure 2—figure supplement 2
Cortical inhibition does not affect cued licking behavior.
Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice were trained to lick to obtain a food pellet after an auditory cue. (A) Image of animal performing the cued licking task. (B) Ethograms of cued licking (gray bars). Gray …
Figure 3
Contralateral sensorimotor cortex is required for the ongoing execution of head-fixed prehension behavior.
(A1 to E1) Optogenetic activation of contralateral sensorimotor cortical inhibitory neurons of Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice during the epochs of tone-cued prehension. Three example trials presented …
Figure 4 with 3 supplements
Termination of cortical inhibition is sufficient to generate normal prehension behavior.
(A) Timing differences between control prehension behavior and prehension after laser termination (“rebound prehension”), averaged across 5 Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP animals. Values include First Lift …
Figure 4—figure supplement 1
Trajectories of control and rebound prehension are similar.
Comparison of the average trajectory of control (white line) and rebound (blue line) prehension of Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice. Squares on line mark average hand position at Lift, 1/3 of total …
Figure 4—figure supplement 2
Action potential firing rates during and after photostimulation in cortical neurons of awake, non-behaving Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice.
(A) Silicon probe extracellular recordings of a putative pyramidal cortical neuron. Blue line represents 4 s of 473 nm light (7 mW). Increased spiking immediately at the termination of each light …
Figure 4—figure supplement 3
Contralateral sensorimotor cortex is required for the ongoing execution of rebound prehension.
(A–F) Termination of initial optogenetic activation (laser 1) of sensorimotor cortical inhibitory neurons of Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice elicited rebound prehension; second laser (laser 2) …
Videos
Video 1
Example of successful control prehension.
Side and front views of head-fixed prehension task. Animal responded to auditory cue and pellet delivery by executing stereotyped components of prehension, acquiring food pellet in single attempt. …
Video 2
Visualization of the Cascaded Pose Regression algorithm used to track the forelimb for each frame of a video.
In each frame, each line represents 1 of 50 random initializations (in space), with the blue to red color coding representing the progression through the first 10 of 100 iterations of the current …
Video 3
Optogenetic inhibition of contralateral sensorimotor cortex prevents prehension initiation.
Auditory cue and pellet delivery were paired with contralateral sensorimotor cortex inhibition (4 s of light delivery) in Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice, preventing mice from initiating prehension. …
Video 4
Optogenetic inhibition of ipsilateral sensorimotor cortex does not affect prehension.
Auditory cue and pellet delivery were paired with ipsilateral sensorimotor cortex inhibition (4 s of light delivery) in Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice. Mouse performed normal prehension behavior …
Video 5
Optogenetic inhibition of contralateral sensorimotor cortex does not affect forelimb movements during grooming.
Auditory cue and pellet delivery delivered during grooming. Contralateral sensorimotor cortex inhibition (2 s of light delivery) in Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice did not prevent ongoing grooming. …
Video 6
Cued licking task.
Set-up is similar to cued prehension task except food pellet was delivered in close proximity to the tongue. After the cue and delay, the animals used their tongue to acquire the pellet. Forelimbs …
Video 7
Optogenetic inhibition of contralateral sensorimotor cortex does not affect cued licking and associated forelimb movements.
Auditory cue and pellet delivery was paired with contralateral sensorimotor cortex inhibition (2 s of light delivery) in Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice. Lick performance and associated arm movements …
Video 8
Prehension progression is blocked by optogenetic inhibition of contralateral sensorimotor cortex during Lift.
Contralateral sensorimotor cortex inhibition (2 s of light delivery) in Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice occurred during Lift. Progression to the pellet was blocked. Prehension was initiated at the …
Video 9
Prehension progression is blocked by optogenetic inhibition of contralateral sensorimotor cortex during Hand open.
Contralateral sensorimotor cortex inhibition (2 s of light delivery) in Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice occurred during Hand open. Animal progressed to Grab and then froze. Prehension was initiated at …
Video 10
Prehension progression blocked by optogenetic inhibition of contralateral sensorimotor cortex during Grab.
Contralateral sensorimotor cortex inhibition (2 s of light delivery) in Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice occurred during Grab. The animal was not able to get the food into the mouth.
Prehension was initiated at the termination of cortical inhibition. Side and front views of head-fixed mouse. Playback at 100 ms/s.
Video 11
Prehension progression impeded but not prevented by optogenetic inhibition of contralateral sensorimotor cortex during Grab.
Contralateral sensorimotor cortex inhibition (2 s of light delivery) in Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice occurred during Grab. Trajectory to the mouth was impeded, but interestingly the unaffected arm …
Video 12
Optogenetic inhibition of contralateral sensorimotor cortex during Supinate can stop progression to At mouth.
Contralateral sensorimotor cortex suppression (2 s of light delivery) in Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice occurred during Supinate. The mouse was unable to deliver the pellet into the mouth. Prehension …
Video 13
Optogenetic inhibition of contralateral sensorimotor cortex during Supinate can fail to stop progression to At mouth.
Contralateral sensorimotor cortex inhibition (2 s of light delivery) in Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice occurred during Supinate. Mouse was able to deliver pellet to mouth. Prehension was not initiated …
Video 14
Prehension is not impeded by optogenetic inhibition of contralateral sensorimotor cortex during At mouth epoch.
Contralateral sensorimotor cortex inhibition (2 s of light delivery) in Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice occurred during At mouth. Animal was able to deliver pellet into mouth. Prehension was not …
Video 15
Chewing is not impeded by optogenetic inhibition of contralateral sensorimotor cortex.
Contralateral sensorimotor cortex inhibition (2 s of light delivery) in Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice occurred during chewing. Animal continued chewing. Prehension was not initiated at the …
Video 16
Relief of brief inhibition of contralateral sensorimotor cortex while animal holding pellet initiates a new prehension attempt.
Contralateral sensorimotor cortex inhibition (0.2 s of light delivery) in Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice occurred while animal was holding the pellet. Despite this sensory information, the termination …
Video 17
Even in the absence of a cue or a pellet, cessation of optogenetic inhibition of contralateral sensorimotor cortex evokes prehension.
Contralateral sensorimotor cortex inhibition (2 s of light delivery) in Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice was not paired with a cue or a pellet. During the laser, the animal remained motionless. …
Video 18
In the absence of a cue but the presence of a pellet, cessation of optogenetic inhibition of contralateral sensorimotor cortex evokes the full prehension behavior.
Contralateral sensorimotor cortex inhibition (1 s of light delivery) in Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice was not paired with a cue but a pellet was unexpectedly available.
During cortical suppression, the animal remained motionless. Prehension to the remembered target was reliably initiated at the termination of inhibition; the pellet was grabbed, delivered to the mouth and chewed. Side and front views of head-fixed mouse. Playback at 100 ms/s.
Video 19
Optogenetic inhibition of contralateral sensorimotor cortex (3 s of light delivery twice, separated by 320 ms) during Supinate of a post-inhibitory prehension attempt can stop progression to the mouth.
Contralateral sensorimotor cortex inhibition in Slc32a1-COP4*H134R/EYFP mice occurred during Supinate of a post-inhibitory prehension attempt. Mouse unable to deliver the pellet into the mouth. …
Additional files
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Source code 1
Code for the analysis described in the article.
- https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.10774.031
