Dynamic and causal contribution of parietal cortex to perceptual decisions during category learning

Abstract

Making perceptual decisions to categorize unknown sensory stimuli is a fundamental cognitive function, known as category learning. The posterior parietal cortex (PPC), although has been intensively studied for its role in decision-making and other cognitive functions, its causal link with behavior remains controversial. Here we combine in vivo two-photon imaging, circuit manipulation and auditory psychophysics behavior in mice to probe the role of PPC and its connectivity with sensory cortex in decision-making during category learning. We show that PPC neuronal populations exhibit coding dynamics characteristic of category learning, showing representations for both new sensory stimuli and prior learned categories. Circuit-specific perturbations of PPC and its projections to auditory cortex impaired decision performance specifically for categorizing new auditory stimuli. These data reveal a dynamic and causal role of the parietal-auditory circuit in decision-making, integrating prior knowledge to guide categorical decisions on new sensory stimuli.