| First Author | Wagner MJ | Year | 2019 |
| Journal | Cell | Volume | 177 |
| Issue | 3 | Pages | 669-682.e24 |
| PubMed ID | 30929904 | Mgi Jnum | J:365737 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:8188232 | Doi | 10.1016/j.cell.2019.02.019 |
| Citation | Wagner MJ, et al. (2019) Shared Cortex-Cerebellum Dynamics in the Execution and Learning of a Motor Task. Cell 177(3):669-682.e24 |
| abstractText | Throughout mammalian neocortex, layer 5 pyramidal (L5) cells project via the pons to a vast number of cerebellar granule cells (GrCs), forming a fundamental pathway. Yet, it is unknown how neuronal dynamics are transformed through the L5-->GrC pathway. Here, by directly comparing premotor L5 and GrC activity during a forelimb movement task using dual-site two-photon Ca(2+) imaging, we found that in expert mice, L5 and GrC dynamics were highly similar. L5 cells and GrCs shared a common set of task-encoding activity patterns, possessed similar diversity of responses, and exhibited high correlations comparable to local correlations among L5 cells. Chronic imaging revealed that these dynamics co-emerged in cortex and cerebellum over learning: as behavioral performance improved, initially dissimilar L5 cells and GrCs converged onto a shared, low-dimensional, task-encoding set of neural activity patterns. Thus, a key function of cortico-cerebellar communication is the propagation of shared dynamics that emerge during learning. |
