Stay or go? Neuronal activity in medial frontal cortex during a voluntary tactile preference task in head-fixed mice.

ABSTRACT: The decision to move is influenced by sensory, attentional, and motivational cues. One such cue is the quality of the tactile input, with noxious or unpleasant sensations causing an animal to move away from the cue. Processing of painful and unpleasant sensation in the cortex involves multiple brain regions, although the specific role of the brain areas involved in voluntary, rather than reflexive movement away from unpleasant stimuli is not well understood. Here, we focused on the medial subdivision of secondary motor cortex, which is proposed to link sensory and contextual cues to motor action, and tested its role in controlling voluntary movement in the context of an aversive tactile cue. We designed a novel, 3D-printed tactile platform consisting of innocuous (grid) and mildly noxious

SUBMITTER: Keyes AL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8224542 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature