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Related Experiment Video

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Author Spotlight: Investigating the Effects of Mind-Body-Movement Practices on Brain Function

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Cognitive experience alters cortical involvement in goal-directed navigation.

Charlotte Arlt¹, Roberto Barroso-Luque¹, Shinichiro Kira¹

¹Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, United States.

|June 23, 2022

Summary

Past learning experiences shape brain activity and determine if the cortex is essential for navigation decisions. Complex training makes cortical areas crucial for simple tasks, unlike basic sensory learning.

Keywords:

decision-making mouse navigation neocortex neuroscience

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Area of Science:

Neuroscience
Cognitive Science
Behavioral Neuroscience

Background:

Neural activity in the mammalian cortex is extensively studied during decision-making tasks.
Recent research focuses on identifying conditions under which cortical involvement is essential for task performance.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate how distinct cognitive experiences influence cortical necessity in navigation decision tasks.
To determine if past learning critically affects the role of cortical areas in goal-directed navigation.

Main Methods:

Utilized optogenetics and calcium imaging in mice with varied training histories.
Assessed the necessity and neural activity of multiple cortical areas during a navigation task.

Main Results:

Posterior parietal cortex and retrosplenial cortex were dispensable for a simple navigation task in naive mice.
These cortical areas became essential for the same task after complex training involving delay periods or association switches.
Complex-task experience led to higher single-neuron selectivity and weaker neuron-neuron correlations in cortical activity, enhancing task information encoding.

Conclusions:

Past learning experiences are a critical determinant of cortical necessity in goal-directed navigation.
The brain flexibly recruits cortical resources based on prior cognitive demands.
Neural coding in the cortex adapts to experience, optimizing performance on complex tasks.