categorical decision; continuum responses; dorsal premotor cortex; inter-trial coding; temporal signals; Neurons/physiology; Movement/physiology; Motor Cortex/physiology; Motor Cortex; Movement; Neurons; Multidisciplinary
Abstract :
[en] The dorsal premotor cortex (DPC) has classically been associated with a role in preparing and executing the physical motor variables during cognitive tasks. While recent work has provided nuanced insights into this role, here we propose that DPC also participates more actively in decision-making. We recorded neuronal activity in DPC while two trained monkeys performed a vibrotactile categorization task, utilizing two partially overlapping ranges of stimulus values that varied on two physical attributes: vibrotactile frequency and amplitude. We observed a broad heterogeneity across DPC neurons, the majority of which maintained the same response patterns across attributes and ranges, coding in the same periods, mixing temporal and categorical dynamics. The predominant categorical signal was maintained throughout the delay, movement periods and notably during the intertrial period. Putting the entire population's data through two dimensionality reduction techniques, we found strong temporal and categorical representations without remnants of the stimuli's physical parameters. Furthermore, projecting the activity of one population over the population axes of the other yielded identical categorical and temporal responses. Finally, we sought to identify functional subpopulations based on the combined activity of all stimuli, neurons, and time points; however, we found that single-unit responses mixed temporal and categorical dynamics and couldn't be clustered. All these point to DPC playing a more decision-related role than previously anticipated.
Disciplines :
Neurosciences & behavior Social & behavioral sciences, psychology: Multidisciplinary, general & others
Author, co-author :
Diaz-deLeon, Gabriel; Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Querétaro 76230, Mexico ; Instituto de Fisiología Celular, Departamento de Neurociencia Cognitiva, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico
Alvarez, Manuel ; Instituto de Fisiología Celular, Departamento de Neurociencia Cognitiva, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico
Bayones, Lucas; Instituto de Fisiología Celular, Departamento de Neurociencia Cognitiva, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico
Zainos, Antonio ; Instituto de Fisiología Celular, Departamento de Neurociencia Cognitiva, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico
Zizumbo, Jerónimo ; Instituto de Fisiología Celular, Departamento de Neurociencia Cognitiva, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico
Parra Sánchez, Sergio ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département d'électricité, électronique et informatique (Institut Montefiore) > Brain-Inspired Computing ; Instituto de Fisiología Celular, Departamento de Neurociencia Cognitiva, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico
Pujalte, Sebastián; Instituto de Fisiología Celular, Departamento de Neurociencia Cognitiva, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico
Romo, Ranulfo; Instituto de Fisiología Celular, Departamento de Neurociencia Cognitiva, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico ; Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico ; El Colegio Nacional, Mexico City06020, Mexico
Rossi-Pool, Román ; Instituto de Fisiología Celular, Departamento de Neurociencia Cognitiva, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, 04510 Mexico City, Mexico ; Centro de Ciencias de la Complejidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
de Lafuente, Victor; Instituto de Neurobiología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Querétaro 76230, Mexico
Language :
English
Title :
An abstract categorical decision code in dorsal premotor cortex.
Publication date :
13 December 2022
Journal title :
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
UNAM - Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México CONACYT - Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología
Funding text :
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We thank Hector Diaz for his technical assistance. This work was supported by grants: PAPIIT-IN205022 (to R.R.-P.) and PAPIIT-IG200521 (to V.d.L.) from the Dirección de Asuntos del Personal Académico de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; CONACYT-319347 (to R.R.-P.), CONACYT-319212 (to V.d.L.), and CB2014-20140892 (to R.R.) from Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología; IBRO Early Career Award 2022 (to R.R.-P.) from International Brain Research Association. G.D.-d.L. (fellowship CONACYT-964544), S. Parra and J.Z. are doctoral students from Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Biomédicas, UNAM. L.B. is a postdoctoral fellow (Postdoctoral fellowship CONACYT-838783).We thank Hector Diaz for his technical assistance. This work was supported by grants: PAPIIT-IN205022 (to R.R.-P.) and PAPIIT-IG200521 (to V.d.L.) from the Dirección de Asuntos del Personal Académico de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México; CONACYT-319347 (to R.R.-P.), CONACYT-319212 (to V.d.L.), and CB2014-20140892 (to R.R.) from Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología; IBRO Early Career Award 2022 (to R.R.-P.) from International Brain Research Association. G.D.-d.L. (fellowship CONACYT-964544), S. Parra and J.Z. are doctoral students from Programa de Doctorado en Ciencias Biomédicas, UNAM. L.B. is a postdoctoral fellow (Postdoctoral fellowship CONACYT-838783).
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