Functional links between sensory representations, choice activity, and sensorimotor associations in parietal cortex
- University of Wisconsin - Madison, United States
- WiSys Technology Foundation, United States
Abstract
Three-dimensional (3D) representations of the environment are often critical for selecting actions that achieve desired goals. The success of these goal-directed actions relies on 3D sensorimotor transformations that are experience-dependent. Here we investigated the relationships between the robustness of 3D visual representations, choice-related activity, and motor-related activity in parietal cortex. Macaque monkeys performed an eight-alternative 3D orientation discrimination task and a visually guided saccade task while we recorded from the caudal intraparietal area using laminar probes. We found that neurons with more robust 3D visual representations preferentially carried choice-related activity. Following the onset of choice-related activity, the robustness of the 3D representations further increased for those neurons. We additionally found that 3D orientation and saccade direction preferences aligned, particularly for neurons with choice-related activity, reflecting an experience-dependent sensorimotor association. These findings reveal previously unrecognized links between the fidelity of ecologically relevant object representations, choice-related activity, and motor-related activity.
Data availability
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in the manuscript and supporting files.
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Author details
Funding
Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (FG-2016-6468)
- Ari Rosenberg
Whitehall Foundation (2016-08-18)
- Ari Rosenberg
Greater Milwaukee Foundation (Shaw Scientist Award)
- Ari Rosenberg
National Institutes of Health (EY029438)
- Ari Rosenberg
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Ethics
Animal experimentation: This study was performed in strict accordance with the recommendations of the National Institutes of Health's Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. All experimental procedures and surgeries were approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (Protocol #: G005229).
Copyright
© 2020, Chang et al.
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.
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Functional links between sensory representations, choice activity, and sensorimotor associations in parietal cortex
eLife 9:e57968.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.57968
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Research on brain plasticity, particularly in the context of deafness, consistently emphasizes the reorganization of the auditory cortex. But to what extent do all individuals with deafness show the same level of reorganization? To address this question, we examined the individual differences in functional connectivity (FC) from the deprived auditory cortex. Our findings demonstrate remarkable differentiation between individuals deriving from the absence of shared auditory experiences, resulting in heightened FC variability among deaf individuals, compared to more consistent FC in the hearing group. Notably, connectivity to language regions becomes more diverse across individuals with deafness. This does not stem from delayed language acquisition; it is found in deaf native signers, who are exposed to natural language since birth. However, comparing FC diversity between deaf native signers and deaf delayed signers, who were deprived of language in early development, we show that language experience also impacts individual differences, although to a more moderate extent. Overall, our research points out the intricate interplay between brain plasticity and individual differences, shedding light on the diverse ways reorganization manifests among individuals. It joins findings of increased connectivity diversity in blindness and highlights the importance of considering individual differences in personalized rehabilitation for sensory loss.
