@article {67951, title = {A midbrain-thalamus-cortex circuit reorganizes cortical dynamics to initiate movement.}, journal = {Cell}, volume = {185}, year = {2022}, month = {2022 Mar 17}, pages = {1065}, abstract = {

Motor behaviors are often planned long before execution but only released after specific sensory events. Planning and execution are each associated with distinct patterns of motor cortex activity. Key questions are how these dynamic activity patterns are generated and how they relate to behavior. Here, we investigate the multi-regional neural circuits that link an auditory "Go cue" and the transition from planning to execution of directional licking. Ascending glutamatergic neurons in the midbrain reticular and pedunculopontine nuclei show short latency and phasic changes in spike rate that are selective for the Go cue. This signal is transmitted via the thalamus to the motor cortex, where it triggers a rapid reorganization of motor cortex state from planning-related activity to a motor command, which in turn drives appropriate movement. Our studies show how midbrain can control cortical dynamics via the thalamus for rapid and precise motor behavior.

}, issn = {1097-4172}, doi = {10.1016/j.cell.2022.02.006}, author = {Inagaki, Hidehiko K and Chen, Susu and Ridder, Margreet C and Sah, Pankaj and Li, Nuo and Yang, Zidan and Hasanbegovic, Hana and Gao, Zhenyu and Gerfen, Charles R and Svoboda, Karel} } @article {65080, title = {Response to "Fallacies of mice experiments".}, journal = {Neuroinformatics}, year = {2019}, month = {2019 Aug 03}, abstract = {

In a recent Editorial, De Schutter commented on our recent study on the roles of a cortico-cerebellar loop in motor planning in mice (De Schutter 2019, Neuroinformatics, 17, 181-183, Gao et al. 2018, Nature, 563, 113-116). Two issues were raised. First, De Schutter questions the involvement of the fastigial nucleus in motor planning, rather than the dentate nucleus, given previous anatomical studies in non-human primates. Second, De Schutter suggests that our study design did not delineate different components of the behavior and the fastigial nucleus might play roles in sensory discrimination rather than motor planning. These comments are based on anatomical studies in other species and homology-based arguments and ignore key anatomical data and neurophysiological experiments from our study. Here we outline our interpretation of existing data and point out gaps in knowledge where future studies are needed.

}, issn = {1559-0089}, doi = {10.1007/s12021-019-09433-y}, author = {Gao, Zhenyu and Thomas, Alyse M and Economo, Michael N and Abrego, Amada M and Svoboda, Karel and De Zeeuw, Chris I and Li, Nuo} } @article {49476, title = {A cortico-cerebellar loop for motor planning.}, journal = {Nature}, volume = {563}, year = {2018}, month = {2018 Oct 17}, pages = {113-6}, abstract = {

Persistent and ramping neural activity in the frontal cortex anticipates specific movements. Preparatory activity is distributed across several brain regions, but it is unclear which brain areas are involved and how this activity is mediated by multi-regional interactions. The cerebellum is thought to be primarily involved in the short-timescale control of movement; however, roles for this structure in cognitive processes have also been proposed. In humans, cerebellar damage can cause defects in planning and working memory. Here we show that persistent representation of information in the frontal cortex during motor planning is dependent on the cerebellum. Mice performed a sensory discrimination task in which they used short-term memory to plan a future directional movement. A transient perturbation in the medial deep cerebellar nucleus (fastigial nucleus) disrupted subsequent correct responses without hampering movement execution. Preparatory activity was observed in both the frontal cortex and the cerebellar nuclei, seconds before the onset of movement. The silencing of frontal cortex activity abolished preparatory activity in the cerebellar nuclei, and fastigial activity was necessary to maintain cortical preparatory activity. Fastigial output selectively targeted the behaviourally relevant part of the frontal cortex through the thalamus, thus closing a cortico-cerebellar loop. Our results support the view that persistent neural dynamics during motor planning is maintained by neural circuits that span multiple brain regions, and that cerebellar computations extend beyond online motor control.

}, issn = {1476-4687}, doi = {10.1038/s41586-018-0633-x}, author = {Gao, Zhenyu and Davis, Courtney and Thomas, Alyse M and Economo, Michael N and Abrego, Amada M and Svoboda, Karel and De Zeeuw, Chris I and Li, Nuo} }