RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Large-scale all-optical dissection of motor cortex connectivity reveals a segregated functional organization of mouse forelimb representations
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2021.07.15.452461
DO 10.1101/2021.07.15.452461
A1 Resta, Francesco
A1 Montagni, Elena
A1 de Vito, Giuseppe
A1 Scaglione, Alessandro
A1 Mascaro, Anna Letizia Allegra
A1 Pavone, Francesco Saverio
YR 2021
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2021/07/15/2021.07.15.452461.abstract
AB In rodent motor cortex, the rostral forelimb area (RFA) and the caudal forelimb area (CFA) are major actors in orchestrating the control of forelimb complex movements. However, their intrinsic connections and reciprocal functional organization are still unclear, limiting our understanding of how the brain coordinates and executes voluntary movements. Here we causally probed cortical connectivity and activation patterns triggered by transcranial optogenetic stimulation of ethologically relevant complex movements exploiting a novel large-scale all-optical method in awake mice. Results show specific activation features for each movement class, providing evidence for a segregated functional organization of CFA and RFA. Importantly, we identified a second discrete lateral grasping representation area, namely lateral forelimb area (LFA), with unique connectivity and activation patterns. Therefore, we propose the LFA as a distinct motor representation in the forelimb somatotopic motor map.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.