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Sequential Transmission of Task-Relevant Information in Cortical Neuronal Networks

Nikolas A. Francis, Shoutik Mukherjee, Loren Koçillari, View ORCID ProfileStefano Panzeri, View ORCID ProfileBehtash Babadi, View ORCID ProfilePatrick O. Kanold
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.31.458395
Nikolas A. Francis
1Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
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Shoutik Mukherjee
3Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
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Loren Koçillari
4Laboratory of Neural Computation, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rovereto 38068, Italy
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Stefano Panzeri
4Laboratory of Neural Computation, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia, Rovereto 38068, Italy
5Department of Neural Information Processing, Center for Molecular Neurobiology (ZMNH), University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), D-20251 Hamburg, Germany
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  • For correspondence: pkanold@jhu.edu
Behtash Babadi
3Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
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  • For correspondence: pkanold@jhu.edu
Patrick O. Kanold
1Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA
2Department of Biomedical Engineering & Kavli Neuroscience Discovery Institute, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA
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  • For correspondence: pkanold@jhu.edu
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ABSTRACT

During auditory task performance, cortical processing of task-relevant information enables mammals to recognize sensory input and flexibly select behavioral responses. In mouse auditory cortex, small neuronal networks encode behavioral choice during a pure-tone detection task, but it is poorly understood how neuronal networks encode behavioral choice during a pure-tone discrimination task where tones have to be categorized into targets and non-targets. While the interactions between networked neurons are thought to encode behavioral choice, it remains unclear how patterns of neuronal network activity indicate the transmission of task-relevant information within the network. To this end, we trained mice to behaviorally discriminate target vs. non-target pure-tones while we used in vivo 2-photon imaging to record neuronal population activity in primary auditory cortex layer 2/3. We found that during task performance, a specialized subset of neurons transiently encoded intersection information, i.e., sensory information that was used to inform behavioral choice. Granger causality analysis showed that these neurons formed functional networks in which task-relevant information was transmitted sequentially between neurons. Differences in network structure between target and non-target sounds encoded behavioral choice. Correct behavioral choices were associated with shorter timescale communication between neurons. In summary, we find that specialized neuronal populations in auditory cortex form functional networks during auditory task performance whose structures depend on both sensory input and behavioral choice.

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 September 01, 2021.
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Sequential Transmission of Task-Relevant Information in Cortical Neuronal Networks
Nikolas A. Francis, Shoutik Mukherjee, Loren Koçillari, Stefano Panzeri, Behtash Babadi, Patrick O. Kanold
bioRxiv 2021.08.31.458395; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.31.458395
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Sequential Transmission of Task-Relevant Information in Cortical Neuronal Networks
Nikolas A. Francis, Shoutik Mukherjee, Loren Koçillari, Stefano Panzeri, Behtash Babadi, Patrick O. Kanold
bioRxiv 2021.08.31.458395; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.08.31.458395

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