IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v603y2022i7901d10.1038_s41586-022-04478-7.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cortical processing of flexible and context-dependent sensorimotor sequences

Author

Listed:
  • Duo Xu

    (The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)

  • Mingyuan Dong

    (The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)

  • Yuxi Chen

    (Johns Hopkins University)

  • Angel M. Delgado

    (Johns Hopkins University)

  • Natasha C. Hughes

    (Johns Hopkins University)

  • Linghua Zhang

    (The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)

  • Daniel H. O’Connor

    (The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine)

Abstract

The brain generates complex sequences of movements that can be flexibly configured based on behavioural context or real-time sensory feedback1, 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) cortices2 encoded and controlled tongue kinematics at the level of individual licks. By contrast, the tongue ‘premotor’ (anterolateral motor) cortex3–10 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.

Suggested Citation

  • Duo Xu & Mingyuan Dong & Yuxi Chen & Angel M. Delgado & Natasha C. Hughes & Linghua Zhang & Daniel H. O’Connor, 2022. "Cortical processing of flexible and context-dependent sensorimotor sequences," Nature, Nature, vol. 603(7901), pages 464-469, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:603:y:2022:i:7901:d:10.1038_s41586-022-04478-7
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04478-7
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04478-7
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41586-022-04478-7?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:603:y:2022:i:7901:d:10.1038_s41586-022-04478-7. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.