Striatal ensembles specify and control ongoing actions at fine motor resolution
Year: 2025
Type: preprint
Abstract: The striatum is classically thought to modulate action vigor and reinforcement, but whether it specifies and controls ongoing actions at a fine scale remains unclear. Here, we test whether striatal activity can resolve and control actions as granular as distinct patterns of muscle co-contraction within the same limb. We developed a closed-loop system combining two-photon imaging and holographic optogenetics to identify and manipulate action-specific striatal ensembles in real time. Mice performed isometric push or pull actions engaging the same forelimb muscles with different activation patterns. Ensembles of both D1- and D2-spiny projection neurons encoded action identity with equal fidelity. Causal stimulation of small ensembles biased ongoing force, but only when the ensembles encoded the ongoing action. These results show that the striatum specifies and controls ongoing actions in real time at a previously unappreciated granularity, redefining its role in motor control.
Authors: Ines Rodrigues-Vaz, Vivek R. Athalye, Helio F.M. Rodrigues, Darcy S. Peterka, Rui M. Costa
Language: English
Topic: Motor Control and Adaptation
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: Unraveling constraints on motor cortical activity exploration and shaping during structural skill learning using large-scale 2-photon imaging and holographic optogenetic stimulation, Computational and circuit mechanisms underlying motor control, G3275678647, Connectivity Principles Underlying Network Dynamics and Learning, G9000326718, How neuronal ensembles control brain network dynamics to drive action
OpenAlex ID: W4417124888