Sensory adaptation in the barrel cortex during active sensation in the behaving mouse.

Sensory Adaptation (SA) is a prominent aspect of how neurons respond to sensory signals, ubiquitous across species and modalities. However, SA depends on the activation state of the brain and the extent to which SA is expressed in awake, behaving animals during active sensation remains unclear. Here, we addressed this question by training head-fixed mice to detect an object using their whiskers and recording neuronal activity from barrel cortex whilst simultaneously imaging the whiskers in 3D.

Motor Cortex Latent Dynamics Encode Spatial and Temporal Arm Movement Parameters Independently.

The fluid movement of an arm requires multiple spatiotemporal parameters to be set independently. Recent studies have argued that arm movements are generated by the collective dynamics of neurons in motor cortex. An untested prediction of this hypothesis is that independent parameters of movement must map to independent components of the neural dynamics.

Motor cortex latent dynamics encode spatial and temporal arm movement parameters independently.

The fluid movement of an arm requires multiple spatiotemporal parameters to be set independently. Recent studies have argued that arm movements are generated by the collective dynamics of neurons in motor cortex. An untested prediction of this hypothesis is that independent parameters of movement must map to independent components of the neural dynamics.

Correction: A system for tracking whisker kinematics and whisker shape in three dimensions.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.

A system for tracking whisker kinematics and whisker shape in three dimensions.

Quantification of behaviour is essential for biology. Since the whisker system is a popular model, it is important to have methods for measuring whisker movements from behaving animals. Here, we developed a high-speed imaging system that measures whisker movements simultaneously from two vantage points.

Prediction of Choice from Competing Mechanosensory and Choice-Memory Cues during Active Tactile Decision Making.

Perceptual decision making is an active process where animals move their sense organs to extract task-relevant information. To investigate how the brain translates sensory input into decisions during active sensation, we developed a mouse active touch task where the mechanosensory input can be precisely measured and that challenges animals to use multiple mechanosensory cues. Male mice were trained to localize a pole using a single whisker and to report their decision by selecting one of three choices.