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Updated: Feb 6, 2026

Compensatory Limb Use and Behavioral Assessment of Motor Skill Learning Following Sensorimotor Cortex Injury in a Mouse Model of Ischemic Stroke

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Mouse Motor Cortex Coordinates the Behavioral Response to Unpredicted Sensory Feedback.

Matthias Heindorf¹, Silvia Arber¹, Georg B Keller²

¹Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research, 4058 Basel, Switzerland; Biozentrum, Department of Cell Biology, University of Basel, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.

|August 28, 2018

Summary

The motor cortex (M1) is crucial for learning and executing visually guided movements. M1 neurons detect sensory errors and initiate corrective actions, aiding motor coordination.

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Motor Control
Sensory Integration

Background:

Motor cortex (M1) lesions cause motor deficits, but its precise role in movement control is debated.
Understanding M1's function in sensory-guided motor coordination is essential for addressing motor impairments.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the role of the motor cortex (M1) in visually guided motor coordination and learning.
To differentiate the neural activity patterns of M1 sub-populations during self-initiated and externally perturbed movements.

Main Methods:

Mice were trained to navigate a virtual corridor on a spherical treadmill, incorporating spontaneous and visually perturbed turns.
Electrophysiological recordings captured the activity of layer 2/3 and layer 5 pyramidal tract (PT) neurons in M1.
Analysis focused on neural activation patterns relative to behavioral responses and learning progression.

Main Results:

M1 is vital for both the execution and learning of the visually guided navigation task.
Turn-selective M1 layer 2/3 and layer 5 PT neuron activity evolved with learning during spontaneous turns.
During induced turns, layer 2/3 neurons activated irrespective of behavioral output, while PT neurons encoded response magnitude.

Conclusions:

M1 plays a key role in detecting sensory perturbations that disrupt motor intentions.
M1 contributes to initiating appropriate corrective responses, facilitating motor state regulation.
These findings clarify M1's contribution to sensory-guided motor control and adaptation.