Differential Effects of Astrocyte Manipulations on Learned Motor Behavior and Neuronal Ensembles in the Motor Cortex.

ABSTRACT: Although motor cortex is crucial for learning precise and reliable movements, whether and how astrocytes contribute to its plasticity and function during motor learning is unknown. Here, we report that astrocyte-specific manipulations in primary motor cortex (M1) during a lever push task alter motor learning and execution, as well as the underlying neuronal population coding. Mice that express decreased levels of the astrocyte glutamate transporter 1 (GLT1) show impaired and variable movement trajectories, whereas mice with increased astrocyte Gq signaling show decreased performance rates, delayed response times, and impaired trajectories. In both groups, which include male and female mice, M1 neurons have altered interneuronal correlations and impaired population representations of task p

SUBMITTER: Delepine C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10089242 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature