Streamlined sensory motor communication through cortical reciprocal connectivity in a visually guided eye movement
Takahide Itokazu1, Masashi Hasegawa1, Rui Kimura1
1Werner Reichardt Center for Integrative Neuroscience, University of Tübingen, 72076, Tübingen, Germany.
Nature Communications
|January 25, 2018
Summary
Researchers studied communication between mouse sensory and motor cortices using an eye movement task. They found that reciprocal connections streamline information flow, with motor signals moving from secondary motor cortex to visual areas and sensory information flowing vice versa.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Systems Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
Background:
- Cortical computation relies on distributed networks with reciprocal connectivity.
- The precise role of this connectivity in inter-areal communication remains unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate communication pathways between sensory and motor cortices.
- To understand how reciprocal connectivity influences information flow.
Main Methods:
- Developed an eye movement task in mice.
- Utilized optogenetic suppression and two-photon calcium imaging.
- Identified specific cortical regions and their connections.
Main Results:
- Identified a region in the secondary motor cortex (MO sub s end) connected to higher visual areas (V sub RL/A/AL end).
- Observed directional information flow: motor signals from MO sub s end to V sub RL/A/AL end, and sensory signals from V sub RL/A/AL end to MO sub s end.
- Demonstrated that connectivity directionality dictates information transfer.
Conclusions:
- Reciprocal connectivity between MO sub s end and V sub RL/A/AL end facilitates efficient, direction-specific information transfer.
- This streamlined communication enhances the computational capacity of distributed cortical networks.
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