Basal ganglia output reflects internally-specified movements

Abstract
Article and author information
Metrics

Abstract

How movements are selected is a fundamental question in systems neuroscience. While many studies have elucidated the sensorimotor transformations underlying stimulus-guided movements, less is known about how internal goals - critical drivers of goal-directed behavior - guide movements. The basal ganglia are known to bias movement selection according to value, one form of internal goal. Here, we examine whether other internal goals, in addition to value, also influence movements via the basal ganglia. We designed a novel task for mice that dissociated equally rewarded internally-specified and stimulus-guided movements, allowing us to test how each engaged the basal ganglia. We found that activity in the substantia nigra pars reticulata, a basal ganglia output, predictably differed preceding internally-specified and stimulus-guided movements. Incorporating these results into a simple model suggests that internally-specified movements may be facilitated relative to stimulus-guided movements by basal ganglia processing.

Article and author information

Author details

Mario J Lintz

Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, United States

For correspondence
mario.lintz@ucdenver.edu

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Gidon Felsen

Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, United States

For correspondence
gidon.felsen@gmail.com

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-0745-8279

Ethics

Animal experimentation: This study was performed in accordance with the recommendations in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals of the National Institutes of Health, 8th edition. All experiments were performed according to protocol #90209(12)1D, approved by the University of Colorado School of Medicine Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. All surgeries were performed under isoflurane anesthesia and all perfusions were performed following an overdose of sodium pentobarbital. Quality of life was improved with enriched living environments and dietary treats while every effort was made to minimize suffering.

Copyright

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.