Dynamiques de couches corticales des réseaux pariéto-moteurs dans des tâches de pointage

Layer-specific dynamics of parieto-motor networks during visually-guidedarm reaching behaviour

• Auteur / Autrice : Laura Lopez galdo
• Direction : Bjørg Kilavik, Demian Battaglia
• Type : Projet de thèse
• Discipline(s) : Biologie-Santé - Spécialité Neurosciences
• Date : Inscription en doctorat le 01/10/2021
• Etablissement(s) : Aix-Marseille
• Ecole(s) doctorale(s) : École Doctorale Sciences de la Vie et de la Santé (Marseille)
• Partenaire(s) de recherche : Laboratoire : INT - Institut des Neurosciences de la Timone
• Partenaire(s) de recherche : Equipe de recherche : INT - E3 - CoMCo Contrôle Moteur Cognitif

Mots clés

Mots clés libres

Couches corticales

Réseaux pariéto-moteur

Tâches de pointage

Layer-specific

Parieto-motor networks

Reaching

Résumé

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The project is focused on studying the functional properties of neurons belonging to different parietal and motor cortical layers in the NHP. The goal is to better understand the laminar-specific bottom-up and top-down connectivity between regions involved in visually guided arm movement, at the level of the cortex. We will mainly rely on the established macaque model, engaged in visuomotor reaching behaviour. The behavioural paradigm will consist of a pre-cued visual target selection task requiring arm reaching movements. The electrophysiological data will be recorded using multi-shank linear (laminar) arrays, able to detect spikes and LFPs; recordings of eye movements, electromyograms and intra-cortical micro-stimulation will also be performed during the experiment. We will use data analysis approaches, including information theory and decoding to systematically compare the amount of information present in neuronal spiking activity and the LFP related to task rules, visual inputs, and muscle activations at different laminar depths of PMd and M1. This will be linked to large-scale network-level processing involving parietal areas 7a (visual processing, pre-dominantly connected with PMd) and 5d (somatosensory processing, pre-dominantly connected with M1). This large-scale communication and information routing will be quantified via information theory approaches and Granger causality measures. We expect to understand whether the structural connectivity proven between these parietal and frontal areas can be extrapolated to the functional domain. In other words, whether the strong beta oscillations present in the motor and premotor areas are present as well in the parietal regions in a layer-specific fashion.