Stimulus information guides the emergence of behavior-related signals in primary somatosensory cortex during learning

TY - JOUR

T1 - Stimulus information guides the emergence of behavior-related signals in primary somatosensory cortex during learning

AU - Panniello, Mariangela

AU - Gillon, Colleen J

AU - Maffulli, Roberto

AU - Celotto, Marco

AU - Richards, Blake A

AU - Panzeri, Stefano

AU - Kohl, Michael M

N1 - Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

PY - 2024/6/25

Y1 - 2024/6/25

N2 - Neurons in the primary cortex carry sensory- and behavior-related information, but it remains an open question how this information emerges and intersects together during learning. Current evidence points to two possible learning-related changes: sensory information increases in the primary cortex or sensory information remains stable, but its readout efficiency in association cortices increases. We investigated this question by imaging neuronal activity in mouse primary somatosensory cortex before, during, and after learning of an object localization task. We quantified sensory- and behavior-related information and estimated how much sensory information was used to instruct perceptual choices as learning progressed. We find that sensory information increases from the start of training, while choice information is mostly present in the later stages of learning. Additionally, the readout of sensory information becomes more efficient with learning as early as in the primary sensory cortex. Together, our results highlight the importance of primary cortical neurons in perceptual learning.

AB - Neurons in the primary cortex carry sensory- and behavior-related information, but it remains an open question how this information emerges and intersects together during learning. Current evidence points to two possible learning-related changes: sensory information increases in the primary cortex or sensory information remains stable, but its readout efficiency in association cortices increases. We investigated this question by imaging neuronal activity in mouse primary somatosensory cortex before, during, and after learning of an object localization task. We quantified sensory- and behavior-related information and estimated how much sensory information was used to instruct perceptual choices as learning progressed. We find that sensory information increases from the start of training, while choice information is mostly present in the later stages of learning. Additionally, the readout of sensory information becomes more efficient with learning as early as in the primary sensory cortex. Together, our results highlight the importance of primary cortical neurons in perceptual learning.

U2 - 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114244

DO - 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114244

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 38796851

VL - 43

SP - 114244

JO - CELL REP

JF - CELL REP

SN - 2211-1247

IS - 6

ER -