ePoster

Interactions between sensory and motor systems: Corticocerebellar circuits and task engagement

Julia Henschke, Janelle Pakan
FENS Forum 2024(2024)
Messe Wien Exhibition & Congress Center, Vienna, Austria

Conference

FENS Forum 2024

Messe Wien Exhibition & Congress Center, Vienna, Austria

Resources

Authors & Affiliations

Julia Henschke, Janelle Pakan

Abstract

As we learn we are constantly processing sensory input to guide our purposeful behavior, creating a continuous perception-action loop. This interaction emphasizes the transformation of sensory information into motor output, influencing how we engage with our environment. Sensory cortices have been recently shown to send divergent projections to the cerebellum, a key motor control region. Our recent studies on corticocerebellar projections revealed unique pathways for auditory stimuli, highlighting structural and functional distinctions in auditory fields linked to locomotion. Our exploration of contrasts between auditory and visual pathways offers valuable insights into the specialized roles each sense plays in shaping our movements and spatial awareness, but the specific functional consequences of these sensory corticocerebellar loops remain unclear. Here, we investigated the dynamics of information flow from the visual cortex to the cerebellum, examining how locomotion, visual, and association information are transmitted and change with learning. We also explored how cerebellar feedback to the cortex coordinates visual activity. Using in vivo two-photon chronic imaging during two different motor tasks we examine aspects of predictive processing, error feedback, and learning. We imaged supragranular and infragranular visual cortex both before and after DREADD inactivation of the deep cerebellar nuclei, including labelled pontine projecting neurons. We found that the movement modulation of visual cortex neurons changed over the course of learning and inhibiting cerebellar output specifically affected behavioral performance during sensory-driven online motor corrections. Our study highlights the important role of corticocerebellar loops in coordinating activity during sensory-motor interactions and alterations with learning.

Unique ID: fens-24/interactions-between-sensory-motor-systems-27d2ced8