AUTHOR=Sachuriga , Nishimaru Hiroshi , Takamura Yusaku , Matsumoto Jumpei , Ferreira Pereira de Araújo Mariana , Ono Taketoshi , Nishijo Hisao TITLE=Neuronal Representation of Locomotion During Motivated Behavior in the Mouse Anterior Cingulate Cortex JOURNAL=Frontiers in Systems Neuroscience VOLUME=15 YEAR=2021 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/systems-neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnsys.2021.655110 DOI=10.3389/fnsys.2021.655110 ISSN=1662-5137 ABSTRACT=

The anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is located within the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (PFC), and processes and facilitates goal-directed behaviors relating to emotion, reward, and motor control. However, it is unclear how ACC neurons dynamically encode motivated behavior during locomotion. In this study, we examined how information for locomotion and behavioral outcomes is temporally represented by individual and ensembles of ACC neurons in mice during a self-paced locomotor reward-based task. By recording and analyzing the activity of ACC neurons with a microdrive tetrode array while the mouse performed the locomotor task, we found that more than two-fifths of the neurons showed phasic activity relating to locomotion or the reward behavior. Some of these neurons showed significant differences in their firing rate depending on the behavioral outcome. Furthermore, by applying a demixed principal component analysis, the ACC population activity was decomposed into components representing locomotion and the previous/future outcome. These results indicated that ACC neurons dynamically integrate motor and behavioral inputs during goal-directed behaviors.