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A robust role for motor cortex

View ORCID ProfileGonçalo Lopes, Joana Nogueira, George Dimitriadis, Jorge Aurelio Menendez, View ORCID ProfileJoseph J. Paton, View ORCID ProfileAdam R. Kampff
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/058917
Gonçalo Lopes
1Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Portugal;
2Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London, United Kingdom;
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  • For correspondence: g.lopes@ucl.ac.uk
Joana Nogueira
1Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Portugal;
2Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London, United Kingdom;
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George Dimitriadis
1Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Portugal;
2Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London, United Kingdom;
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Jorge Aurelio Menendez
2Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London, United Kingdom;
3Gatsby Computational Neuroscience Unit, University College London, United Kingdom;
4Centre for Computation, Mathematics and Physics in the Life Sciences and Experimental Biology, University College London, United Kingdom
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Joseph J. Paton
1Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Portugal;
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Adam R. Kampff
1Champalimaud Neuroscience Programme, Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, Portugal;
2Sainsbury Wellcome Centre for Neural Circuits and Behaviour, University College London, United Kingdom;
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Abstract

The role of motor cortex in non-primate mammals remains unclear. More than a century of stimulation, anatomical and electrophysiological studies has implicated neural activity in this region with all kinds of movement. However, following the removal of motor cortex, rats retain most of their adaptive behaviours, including previously learned skilled movements. Here we revisit these two conflicting views of motor cortex and present a new behaviour assay, challenging animals to respond to unexpected situations while navigating a dynamic obstacle course. Surprisingly, rats with motor cortical lesions show clear impairments facing an unexpected collapse of the obstacles, while showing no impairment with repeated trials in many motor and cognitive metrics of performance. We propose a new role for motor cortex: extending the robustness of sub-cortical movement systems, specifically to unexpected situations demanding rapid motor responses adapted to environmental context. The implications of this idea for current and future research are discussed.

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Posted May 18, 2017.
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A robust role for motor cortex
Gonçalo Lopes, Joana Nogueira, George Dimitriadis, Jorge Aurelio Menendez, Joseph J. Paton, Adam R. Kampff
bioRxiv 058917; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/058917
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A robust role for motor cortex
Gonçalo Lopes, Joana Nogueira, George Dimitriadis, Jorge Aurelio Menendez, Joseph J. Paton, Adam R. Kampff
bioRxiv 058917; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/058917

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