Dynamic perceptual feature selectivity in primary somatosensory cortex upon reversal learning.

ABSTRACT: Neurons in primary sensory cortex encode a variety of stimulus features upon perceptual learning. However, it is unclear whether the acquired stimulus selectivity remains stable when the same input is perceived in a different context. Here, we monitor the activity of individual neurons in the mouse primary somatosensory cortex during reward-based texture discrimination. We track their stimulus selectivity before and after changing reward contingencies, which allows us to identify various classes of neurons. We find neurons that stably represented a texture or the upcoming behavioral choice, but the majority is dynamic. Among those, a subpopulation of neurons regains texture selectivity contingent on the associated reward value. These value-sensitive neurons forecast the onset of learning b

SUBMITTER: Chereau R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7319990 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature