Poster #245 Premotor inputs modulate preparatory activity in the gustatory cortex |
John Chen1,2 & Alfredo Fontanini1,2 1Program in Neuroscience, Stony Brook, NY, United States 2Department of Neurobiology and Behavior, Stony Brook, NY, United States |
Studies have demonstrated multiple roles for the gustatory cortex (GC) in processing cognitive signals related to a gustatory experience. Importantly, GC represents the progression of taste sensory coding into preparatory signals predicting lick decisions in the context of a delayed-response task where taste guides directional licking. While decision-related activity was observed in GC, the neural mechanisms underlying this representation have not been studied. Given the connections between GC and frontal cortices involved in guiding goal-directed actions, external inputs may modulate preparatory activity in GC during the motor planning of lick decisions. A probable candidate in coordinating GC activity in the context of a delayed-response task is the anterior-lateral motor cortex (ALM). This subregion of the mouse frontal cortex is involved in the planning and execution of goal-directed licking. In this study, we investigated the coordination between GC and ALM in a taste-based, directional licking task with a delay period. Simultaneous electrophysiological recordings were performed to compare the temporal coding of task variables between the two regions. Preparatory activity for licking was found to begin earlier in ALM than in GC. Analysis of trial-type selectivity revealed distinct representations in decision-related coding between the two regions. To determine if ALM is a source of preparatory signals to GC, we performed transient optogenetic inhibition of ALM during the delay period while recording GC activity. Inactivation of ALM reduced direction selective preparatory activity in GC, supporting a role for ALM as a source of such signals to GC. Our findings demonstrate that cortical premotor inputs significantly contribute to GC activity during taste-guided decision making. |