https://www.epfl.ch/labs/lsens
Context-dependent goal-directed sensorimotor transformation
Flexible integration of sensory information in a context-dependent manner is a key cognitive process required to generate appropriate behavior. An intriguing question, then, is how the same sensory stimulus can be interpreted differently according to context in order to generate different behavioral responses. We designed a task in which mice were trained to lick for reward in response to a brief single whisker stimulus if it was preceded by a brief Go-Tone presented one second before the whisker stimulus, but not if it was preceded by a NoGo-Tone. We recorded neuronal activity using multiple Neuropixels probes simultaneously. Prominent persistent activity following the Go-tone presentation was found in two frontal cortical regions (wM2 and ALM), even in trials devoid of delay period movements. Consistently, inactivation of wM2 and ALM during the delay between the Go-tone and the whisker stimulus also reduced licking in the reward window. These findings suggest a crucial role of the frontal areas wM2 and ALM in the encoding and maintenance of contextual information in a short-term memory task.