Abstract
Most adaptive behaviors require precise tracking of targets in space. In pursuit behavior with a moving target, mice use distance to target to guide their own movement continuously. Here, we show that in the sensorimotor striatum, parvalbumin-positive fast-spiking interneurons (FSIs) can represent the distance between self and target during pursuit behavior, while striatal projection neurons (SPNs), which receive FSI projections, can represent self-velocity. FSIs are shown to regulate velocity-related SPN activity during pursuit, so that movement velocity is continuously modulated by distance to target. Moreover, bidirectional manipulation of FSI activity can selectively disrupt performance by increasing or decreasing the self-target distance. Our results reveal a key role of the FSI-SPN interneuron circuit in pursuit behavior and elucidate how this circuit implements distance to velocity transformation required for the critical underlying computation.
Highlights
Most adaptive behaviors require precise tracking of targets in space
We hypothesize that the fast-spiking interneurons (FSIs)–striatal projection neurons (SPNs) interneuron circuit plays a critical role in pursuit behavior, allowing cortical inputs representing the spatial relationship between self and target to reach the basal ganglia (BG)
We found that a striatal microcircuit is critical for pursuit behavior
Summary
Most adaptive behaviors require precise tracking of targets in space. In pursuit behavior with a moving target, mice use distance to target to guide their own movement continuously. Using 3D motion capture, we were able to track the position of the mouse and the distance to target, a crucial variable for accurate pursuit This task allows us to compare continuous behavioral variables and neural activity recorded at the same time. Recent work has shown that sensorimotor SPN activity is often highly correlated with movement velocity[17,18], and optogenetic activation of SPNs alters movement velocity in a frequencydependent fashion[19] It remains unclear how, during target pursuit behavior, the striatal output is commanded by representation of distance to target. The distance representation can be converted into instantaneous velocity commands during pursuit behavior To test this hypothesis, we used wireless in vivo electrophysiology, calcium imaging, and celltype-specific manipulation of neural activity to examine the contributions of the striatal microcircuit to pursuit behavior in freely moving mice. Our results established for the first time a key role of this local striatal circuit in pursuit behavior
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