PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Youna Vandaele
AU  - David J Ottenheimer
AU  - Patricia H Janak
TI  - Dorsomedial striatal activity tracks completion of behavioral sequences
AID  - 10.1101/2021.04.01.437899
DP  - 2021 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 2021.04.01.437899
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/04/02/2021.04.01.437899.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/04/02/2021.04.01.437899.full
AB  - For proper execution of goal-directed behaviors, individuals require both a general representation of the goal and an ability to monitor their own progress toward that goal. Here, we examine how dorsomedial striatum (DMS), a region pivotal for forming associations among stimuli, actions, and outcomes, encodes the execution of goal-directed action sequences that require self-monitoring of behavior. We trained rats to complete a sequence of at least 5 consecutive lever presses (without visiting the reward port) to obtain a reward and recorded the activity of individual cells in DMS while rats performed the task. We found that the pattern of DMS activity gradually changed during the execution of the sequence, permitting accurate decoding of sequence progress from neural activity at a population level. Moreover, this sequence-related activity was blunted on trials where rats did not complete a sufficient number of presses. Overall, these data suggest a link between DMS activity and the execution of behavioral sequences that require monitoring of ongoing behavior.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.