PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Perich, Matthew G.
AU  - Conti, Sara
AU  - Badi, Marion
AU  - Bogaard, Andrew
AU  - Barra, Beatrice
AU  - Wurth, Sophie
AU  - Bloch, Jocelyne
AU  - Courtine, Gregoire
AU  - Micera, Silvestro
AU  - Capogrosso, Marco
AU  - Milekovic, Tomislav
TI  - Motor cortical dynamics are shaped by multiple distinct subspaces during naturalistic behavior
AID  - 10.1101/2020.07.30.228767
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2020.07.30.228767
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/08/03/2020.07.30.228767.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/08/03/2020.07.30.228767.full
AB  - Behavior relies on continuous influx of sensory information about the body and the environment. In primates, cortex integrates somatic feedback to accurately reach and manipulate objects. Yet, in many experimental regimes motor cortex seems paradoxically to operate as a feedforward, rather than feedback-driven, system. Here, we recorded simultaneously from motor and somatosensory cortex as monkeys performed a naturalistic reaching and object interaction behavior. We studied how unexpected feedback from behavioral errors influences cortical dynamics. Motor cortex generally exhibited robust feedforward dynamics, yet displayed feedback-driven dynamics surrounding correction of behavioral errors. We then decomposed motor cortical activity into orthogonal subspaces capturing communication with somatosensory cortex or behavior-generating dynamics. During error correction, the communication subspace became feedback-driven, while the behavioral subspace maintained feedforward dynamics. We therefore demonstrate that cortical activity is compartmentalized within distinct subspaces that shape the population dynamics, enabling flexible integration of salient inputs with ongoing activity for robust behavior.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.