| First Author | Lacefield CO | Year | 2019 |
| Journal | Cell Rep | Volume | 26 |
| Issue | 8 | Pages | 2000-2008.e2 |
| PubMed ID | 30784583 | Mgi Jnum | J:284085 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6380984 | Doi | 10.1016/j.celrep.2019.01.093 |
| Citation | Lacefield CO, et al. (2019) Reinforcement Learning Recruits Somata and Apical Dendrites across Layers of Primary Sensory Cortex. Cell Rep 26(8):2000-2008.e2 |
| abstractText | The mammalian brain can form associations between behaviorally relevant stimuli in an animal's environment. While such learning is thought to primarily involve high-order association cortex, even primary sensory areas receive long-range connections carrying information that could contribute to high-level representations. Here, we imaged layer 1 apical dendrites in the barrel cortex of mice performing a whisker-based operant behavior. In addition to sensory-motor events, calcium signals in apical dendrites of layers 2/3 and 5 neurons and in layer 2/3 somata track the delivery of rewards, both choice related and randomly administered. Reward-related tuft-wide dendritic spikes emerge gradually with training and are task specific. Learning recruits cells whose intrinsic activity coincides with the time of reinforcement. Layer 4 largely lacked reward-related signals, suggesting a source other than the primary thalamus. Our results demonstrate that a sensory cortex can acquire a set of associations outside its immediate sensory modality and linked to salient behavioral events. |
