Secondary Somatosensory Cortex Is Required for Learning but Not Execution of a Tactile Discrimination.

ABSTRACT: The relationship between primary (S1) and secondary (S2) somatosensory cortex is not well understood, and the role of S2 in somatosensory function is not well defined. To test the role of S2 and its interplay with S1 in learning a texture discrimination, we reversibly inhibited primary (S1) and/or secondary somatosensory cortex (S2) bilaterally using DREADDs and measured the effect on the ability of mice to learn a whisker-dependent tactile discrimination. Freely moving mice foraged in an arena that contained two bowls, one of which contained a buried food reward. The bowls could only be distinguished by the texture on the outer surface. DREADD-mediated inhibition suppressed sensory responses and disrupted network activity in the cortical area in which DREADDs were expressed. We found that

SUBMITTER: Pandey A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12853412 | biostudies-literature | 2026 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature