Whisking and locomotion are jointly represented in superior colliculus neurons.
Active sensation requires the brain to interpret external stimuli against an ongoing estimate of body position. While internal estimates of body position are often ascribed to the cerebral cortex, we examined the midbrain superior colliculus (SC), due to its close relationship with the sensory perip...
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Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2025-04-01
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| Series: | PLoS Biology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003087 |
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| author | Suma Chinta Scott R Pluta |
| author_facet | Suma Chinta Scott R Pluta |
| author_sort | Suma Chinta |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Active sensation requires the brain to interpret external stimuli against an ongoing estimate of body position. While internal estimates of body position are often ascribed to the cerebral cortex, we examined the midbrain superior colliculus (SC), due to its close relationship with the sensory periphery as well as higher, motor-related brain regions. Using high-density electrophysiology and movement tracking, we discovered that the on-going kinematics of whisker motion and locomotion speed accurately predict the firing rate of mouse SC neurons. Neural activity was best predicted by movements occurring either in the past, present, or future, indicating that the SC population continuously estimates a trajectory of self-motion. A combined representation of slow and fast whisking features predicted absolute whisker angle at high temporal resolution. Sensory reafference played at least a partial role in shaping this feature tuning. Taken together, these data indicate that the SC contains a joint representation of whisking and locomotor features that is potentially useful in guiding complex orienting movements involving the face and limbs. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-4d8c4edb50f44fd091e3d6bd23f1331f |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 1544-9173 1545-7885 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
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| series | PLoS Biology |
| spelling | doaj-art-4d8c4edb50f44fd091e3d6bd23f1331f2025-08-20T02:12:40ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Biology1544-91731545-78852025-04-01234e300308710.1371/journal.pbio.3003087Whisking and locomotion are jointly represented in superior colliculus neurons.Suma ChintaScott R PlutaActive sensation requires the brain to interpret external stimuli against an ongoing estimate of body position. While internal estimates of body position are often ascribed to the cerebral cortex, we examined the midbrain superior colliculus (SC), due to its close relationship with the sensory periphery as well as higher, motor-related brain regions. Using high-density electrophysiology and movement tracking, we discovered that the on-going kinematics of whisker motion and locomotion speed accurately predict the firing rate of mouse SC neurons. Neural activity was best predicted by movements occurring either in the past, present, or future, indicating that the SC population continuously estimates a trajectory of self-motion. A combined representation of slow and fast whisking features predicted absolute whisker angle at high temporal resolution. Sensory reafference played at least a partial role in shaping this feature tuning. Taken together, these data indicate that the SC contains a joint representation of whisking and locomotor features that is potentially useful in guiding complex orienting movements involving the face and limbs.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003087 |
| spellingShingle | Suma Chinta Scott R Pluta Whisking and locomotion are jointly represented in superior colliculus neurons. PLoS Biology |
| title | Whisking and locomotion are jointly represented in superior colliculus neurons. |
| title_full | Whisking and locomotion are jointly represented in superior colliculus neurons. |
| title_fullStr | Whisking and locomotion are jointly represented in superior colliculus neurons. |
| title_full_unstemmed | Whisking and locomotion are jointly represented in superior colliculus neurons. |
| title_short | Whisking and locomotion are jointly represented in superior colliculus neurons. |
| title_sort | whisking and locomotion are jointly represented in superior colliculus neurons |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003087 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT sumachinta whiskingandlocomotionarejointlyrepresentedinsuperiorcolliculusneurons AT scottrpluta whiskingandlocomotionarejointlyrepresentedinsuperiorcolliculusneurons |