Neural populations in the dorsal and ventral cervical spinal cord share temporal dynamics during reach
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Neural population dynamics provide a popular framework for studying motor cortex function. However, whether such dynamics reflect stage-specific computations or are shared across the input and output stages of a sensorimotor circuit is unknown. In the spinal cord, afferent inputs and motor outputs are segregated by anatomical depth. Here we developed depth-resolved Neuropixels recordings from the rat cervical spinal cord during targeted reaching behavior. Across our recordings, population activity was low-dimensional and organized into transient, rotational and target-specific dynamical motifs. Despite differences in single-neuron activity by depth, dorsal and ventral populations expressed nearly identical dynamics across targets and animals. The dominant target-invariant component was strikingly synchronized across depths, whereas other components, including the target-specific component, showed condition-dependent ventral-to-dorsal delays with timing consistent with movement-related feedback. Thus, cervical spinal population dynamics span sensory and motor territories, and may reflect shared coordination of activity rather than purely state-specific local processing.
Institution: National Institute of Neuroscience
Language: English
Topic: Motor Control and Adaptation
Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: Characterization of the central rhythm generator for locomotion in the mammalian spinal cord by hi-density multichannel electrodes., Neuronal mechanism of skillful hand movement of non-human primates, CRCNS: Transcortical and spinal circuit contributions to hand shaping in primates - Real-time neuromorphic implementation for robotic demonstration
OpenAlex ID: W7222939963