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Flexible neural control of motor units

Najja J. Marshall, Joshua I. Glaser, Eric M. Trautmann, Elom A. Amematsro, Sean M. Perkins, Michael N. Shadlen, L.F. Abbott, John P. Cunningham, Mark M. Churchland
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.05.442653
Najja J. Marshall
1Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
2Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY
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Joshua I. Glaser
2Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY
3Department of Statistics, Columbia University, New York, NY
4Grossman Center for the Statistics of Mind, Columbia University, New York, NY
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Eric M. Trautmann
1Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
2Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY
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Elom A. Amematsro
1Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
2Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY
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Sean M. Perkins
2Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY
5Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, New York, NY
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Michael N. Shadlen
1Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
2Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY
6Kavli Institute for Brain Science, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
7Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY
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L.F. Abbott
1Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
2Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY
6Kavli Institute for Brain Science, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
8Department of Physiology and Cellular Biophysics, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
9Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
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John P. Cunningham
2Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY
3Department of Statistics, Columbia University, New York, NY
4Grossman Center for the Statistics of Mind, Columbia University, New York, NY
9Center for Theoretical Neuroscience, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
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Mark M. Churchland
1Department of Neuroscience, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
2Zuckerman Institute, Columbia University, New York, NY
4Grossman Center for the Statistics of Mind, Columbia University, New York, NY
6Kavli Institute for Brain Science, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY
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  • For correspondence: mc3502@columbia.edu
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Summary

Voluntary movement requires communication from cortex to the spinal cord, where a dedicated pool of motor units (MUs) activates each muscle. The canonical description of MU function, established decades ago, rests upon two foundational tenets. First, cortex cannot control MUs independently1 but supplies each pool with a common drive that specifies force amplitude2,3. Second, as force rises, MUs are recruited in a consistent order4–13 typically described by Henneman’s size principle14–19. While this paradigm has considerable empirical support, a direct test requires simultaneous observations of many MUs over a range of behaviors. We developed an isometric task that allowed stable MU recordings during rapidly changing force production. MU responses were surprisingly flexible and behavior-dependent. MU activity could not be accurately described as reflecting common drive, even when fit with highly expressive latent factor models. Neuropixels probe recordings revealed that, consistent with the requirements of fully flexible control, the cortical population response displays a surprisingly large number of degrees of freedom. Furthermore, MUs were differentially recruited by microstimulation at neighboring cortical sites. Thus, MU activities are flexibly controlled to meet task demands, and cortex has the capacity to contribute to that ability.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted May 05, 2021.
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Flexible neural control of motor units
Najja J. Marshall, Joshua I. Glaser, Eric M. Trautmann, Elom A. Amematsro, Sean M. Perkins, Michael N. Shadlen, L.F. Abbott, John P. Cunningham, Mark M. Churchland
bioRxiv 2021.05.05.442653; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.05.442653
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Flexible neural control of motor units
Najja J. Marshall, Joshua I. Glaser, Eric M. Trautmann, Elom A. Amematsro, Sean M. Perkins, Michael N. Shadlen, L.F. Abbott, John P. Cunningham, Mark M. Churchland
bioRxiv 2021.05.05.442653; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.05.442653

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