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In Vivo Wireless Optogenetic Control of Skilled Motor Behavior

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Published on: November 22, 2021

Premotor cortex is critical for goal-directed actions.

Christina M Gremel¹, Rui M Costa

¹1Laboratory for Integrative Neuroscience, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institutes of Health Bethesda, MD, USA.

Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience

|August 22, 2013

Summary

The premotor cortex (M2) is crucial for goal-directed actions, enabling behavioral adjustments based on outcome consequences. Lesions in M2 impair this ability, while habitual actions remain unaffected, highlighting M2's specific role in adaptive motor control.

Keywords:

action selection goal-directed actions habitual actions premotor cortex value-based decision making

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Behavioral Neuroscience
Motor Control

Background:

Adaptive behavior requires shifting between motor plans, especially when action consequences change.
The pre-supplementary motor area (pre-SMA) in primates and the homologous M2 in mice are involved in motor learning, planning, and action switching.
Differentiating between goal-directed actions (consequence-driven) and habits (reinforcement-driven) is key to understanding motor control.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of the M2 in distinguishing between goal-directed actions and habits.
To test the hypothesis that M2 is differentially involved in consequence-dependent (goal-directed) versus reinforcement-dependent (habitual) actions.

Main Methods:

Mice underwent M2 lesions.
Mice were trained on concurrent reinforcement schedules biasing towards goal-directed or habitual action strategies.
Outcome revaluation testing was used to assess action dependence on expected consequences.

Main Results:

M2 lesions did not impair the acquisition of lever-pressing behavior.
Mice with M2 lesions showed lever-pressing that was insensitive to changes in expected outcome value after goal-directed training.
Habitual actions remained intact in M2-lesioned mice.
Separate experiments confirmed M2's role in goal-directed but not habitual actions.

Conclusions:

The M2 is critical for updating actions based on their consequences, supporting goal-directed behavior.
Habitual action strategies may not depend on M2 processing or motor plan updating.
These findings elucidate the distinct neural mechanisms underlying goal-directed and habitual actions.