Nominally non-responsive frontal and sensory cortical cells encode task-relevant variables via ensemble consensus-building

Insanally, M. N.; Carcea, I.; Field, R. E.; Rodgers, C. C.; DePasquale, B.; Rajan, K.; DeWeese, M. R.; Albanna, B. F.; Froemke, R. C.

doi:10.1101/347617

bioRxiv · 10.1101/347617

Nominally non-responsive frontal and sensory cortical cells encode task-relevant variables via ensemble consensus-building

Insanally, M. N.·Carcea, I.·Field, R. E.·Rodgers, C. C.·DePasquale, B.·Rajan, K.·DeWeese, M. R.·Albanna, B. F.·Froemke, R. C.

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Abstract

Neurons recorded in behaving animals often do not discernibly respond to sensory input and are not overtly task-modulated. These nominally non-responsive neurons are difficult to interpret and are typically neglected from analysis, confounding attempts to connect neural activity to perception and behavior. Here we describe a trial-by-trial, spike-timing-based algorithm to reveal the hidden coding capacities of these neurons in auditory and frontal cortex of behaving rats. Responsive and nominally non-responsive cells contained significant information about sensory stimuli and behavioral decisions, and network modeling indicated that nominally non-responsive cells are important for task performance. Sensory input was more accurately represented in frontal cortex than auditory cortex, via ensembles of nominally non-responsive cells coordinating the behavioral meaning of spike timings on correct but not error trials. This unbiased approach allows the contribution of all recorded neurons - particularly those without obvious task-modulation - to be assessed for behavioral relevance on single trials.

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Insanally, M. N., Carcea, I., Field, R. E., Rodgers, C. C., DePasquale, B., Rajan, K., DeWeese, M. R., Albanna, B. F., Froemke, R. C.. 2018-06-14. Nominally non-responsive frontal and sensory cortical cells encode task-relevant variables via ensemble consensus-building. https://doi.org/10.1101/347617

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