EXPLORING SENSORY & MOTOR COORDINATION FOR PERCEPTUAL STABILITY IN THE MOUSE VISUAL SYSTEM

Self-generated motion poses a fundamental challenge for vision: movements of the eyes and body rapidly sweep the visual scene across the retina, yet perception remains remarkably stable. This stability is thought to rely on corollary discharge (CD)—copies of motor commands sent to sensory circuits that enable the brain to predict and compensate for visual changes caused by self-motion. However, how CD signals from distinct motor systems are integrated and transformed into corrective visual signals remains unknown. However, it is unknown how CD signals from different motor systems are integrated and transformed into corrective visual signals that support perceptual stability. Here, we investigate the ventral lateral geniculate nucleus (vLGN), a small subthalamic structure positioned at the intersection of motor and visual pathways, as a candidate hub for CD integration. Using high-density in vivo electrophysiology in head-fixed, behaving mice, we recorded vLGN neuronal activity during locomotion and eye movements. We find that vLGN neurons exhibit diverse yet coordinated activity patterns tightly time-locked to locomotion versus eye movements. Notably, distinct neuronal subpopulations display oppositely signed modulations during self-motion, suggesting that the vLGN encodes differentiated CD signals rather than simple motor copies. Ongoing simultaneous recordings from the vLGN and interconnected visual areas aim to dissect the circuit mechanisms by which motor-related signals are transformed into visual corrections. Together, our current results support a role for the vLGN in providing structured, action-specific signals that may contribute to the stabilization of visual perception during movement.