Streamlined sensory motor communication through cortical reciprocal connectivity in a visually guided eye movement task

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 338 - 14
• Main Authors: Itokazu, Takahide, Hasegawa, Masashi, Kimura, Rui, Osaki, Hironobu, Albrecht, Urban-Raphael, Sohya, Kazuhiro, Chakrabarti, Shubhodeep, Itoh, Hideaki, Ito, Tetsufumi, Sato, Tatsuo K., Sato, Takashi R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 23.01.2018; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 14/35; 14/69; 631/378/2629; 631/378/3920; 64/110; 64/60; Animals; Brain Mapping; Calcium; Calcium imaging; Cerebral Cortex - physiology; Communication; Computer applications; Computer networks; Cortex (motor); Cortex (somatosensory); Eye; Eye movements; Eye Movements - physiology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Imaging techniques; Information flow; Information processing; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mice, Transgenic; Motor Cortex - physiology; Motor Neurons - physiology; multidisciplinary; Nerve Net - physiology; Neuroimaging; Photic Stimulation - methods; Psychomotor Performance - physiology; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Sensorimotor integration; Sensory Receptor Cells - physiology; Somatosensory Cortex - physiology; Visual cortex; Visual signals
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02501-4

Cortical computation is distributed across multiple areas of the cortex by networks of reciprocal connectivity. However, how such connectivity contributes to the communication between the connected areas is not clear. In this study, we examine the communication between sensory and motor cortices. We develop an eye movement task in mice and combine it with optogenetic suppression and two-photon calcium imaging techniques. We identify a small region in the secondary motor cortex (MO s ) that controls eye movements and reciprocally connects with a rostrolateral part of the higher visual areas (V RL/A/AL ). These two regions encode both motor signals and visual information; however, the information flow between the regions depends on the direction of the connectivity: motor information is conveyed preferentially from the MO s to the V RL/A/AL , and sensory information is transferred primarily in the opposite direction. We propose that reciprocal connectivity streamlines information flow, enhancing the computational capacity of a distributed network. Reciprocal connectivity enables tightly coupled information processing across cortical areas. Here the authors develop a visual oculomotor task in mice, identify a small motor area required for it, and demonstrate selective exchange of sensory and motor information between the motor and sensory areas.