PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Kelly B. Clancy
AU  - Thomas D. Mrsic-Flogel
TI  - The sensory representation of causally controlled objects
AID  - 10.1101/786467
DP  - 2020 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 786467
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/10/29/786467.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/10/29/786467.full
AB  - Intentional control over external objects is informed by our sensory experience of them. To study how causal relationships are learned and effected, we devised a brain machine interface (BMI) task utilising wide-field calcium signals. Mice learned to entrain activity patterns in arbitrary pairs of cortical regions to guide a visual cursor to a target location for reward. Brain areas that were normally correlated could be rapidly reconfigured to exert control over the cursor in a sensory feedback-dependent manner. Higher visual cortex was more engaged when expert but not naïve animals controlled the cursor. Individual neurons in higher visual cortex responded more strongly to the cursor when mice controlled it than when they passively viewed it, with the greatest response boosting as the cursor approached target location. Thus, representations of causally-controlled objects are sensitive to intention and proximity to the subject’s goal, potentially strengthening sensory feedback to allow more fluent control.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.