Open AccessCortical processing of flexible and context-dependent sensorimotor sequences
Author(s) -
Duo Xu,
Mingyuan Dong,
Yuxi Chen,
Angel M. Delgado,
Natasha Hughes,
Linghua Zhang,
Daniel H. O’Connor
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
nature
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 15.993
H-Index - 1226
eISSN - 1476-4687
pISSN - 0028-0836
DOI - 10.1038/s41586-022-04478-7
Subject(s) - licking , neuroscience , context (archaeology) , optogenetics , somatosensory system , sequence (biology) , sensory system , computer science , communication , biology , psychology , paleontology , genetics , pharmacology
The brain generates complex sequences of movements that can be flexibly configured based on behavioural context or real-time sensory feedback 1 , but how this occurs is not fully understood. Here we developed a 'sequence licking' task in which mice directed their tongue to a target that moved through a series of locations. Mice could rapidly branch the sequence online based on tactile feedback. Closed-loop optogenetics and electrophysiology revealed that the tongue and jaw regions of the primary somatosensory (S1TJ) and motor (M1TJ) cortices 2 encoded and controlled tongue kinematics at the level of individual licks. By contrast, the tongue 'premotor' (anterolateral motor) cortex 3-10 encoded latent variables including intended lick angle, sequence identity and progress towards the reward that marked successful sequence execution. Movement-nonspecific sequence branching signals occurred in the anterolateral motor cortex and M1TJ. Our results reveal a set of key cortical areas for flexible and context-informed sequence generation.