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Multiscale low-dimensional motor cortical state dynamics predict naturalistic reach-and-grasp behavior
Hamidreza Abbaspourazad1, Mahdi Choudhury2, Yan T Wong2,3
1Ming Hsieh Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA.
Nature Communications
|January 28, 2021
Summary
Researchers discovered a shared multiscale neural dynamic that predicts naturalistic reach-and-grasp movements. This finding reveals how brain activity across different scales controls complex motor behaviors.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Computational Neuroscience
- Motor Control
Background:
- Motor function relies on neural activity across multiple scales, from individual neuron spikes to larger local field potentials (LFPs).
- The relationship between these multiscale neural dynamics and movement control, particularly during naturalistic tasks, is not well understood.
- Naturalistic reach-and-grasp movements are complex and under-explored in the context of neural dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between multiscale neural dynamics (spiking and LFP activity) and the control of naturalistic reach-and-grasp movements.
- To develop novel dynamical models that capture the interplay of different neural activity scales during motor tasks.
- To identify specific neural dynamics that predict movement behavior across different levels of neural organization.
Main Methods:
- Learning novel multiscale dynamical models for combined spike and LFP network activity.
- Analyzing population activity in monkeys performing naturalistic reach-and-grasp tasks.
- Identifying principal modes of neural dynamics and their decay-frequency characteristics.
Main Results:
- Low-dimensional dynamics in both spiking and LFP activity showed distinct principal modes with unique decay-frequency properties.
- A single, dominant principal mode predicted movements and was shared across spiking and LFP scales.
- This predictive multiscale mode was consistent across different sessions and individual monkeys, though it did not directly replicate behavioral modes.
Conclusions:
- A shared, multiscale, low-dimensional dynamical mode in motor cortical activity underlies the neural control of naturalistic reach-and-grasp behaviors.
- The decay-frequency characteristics of this multiscale neural mode are crucial for explaining observed motor behaviors.
- These findings suggest that motor cortical state dynamics operate across multiple scales to effectively control complex movements.
