Inherent coupling of perceptual judgments to actions in the mouse cortex

Abstract

Neural activity during perceptual tasks is distributed across many cortical regions, but it remains unclear where perceptual judgments are made and whether they are encoded independently of the resulting actions. To address these questions, we designed a vibrotactile detection task in which mice flexibly switched between standard and reversed contingency blocks, requiring them to lick when a stimulus was present or absent, depending on the block. A cortex-wide optogenetic screen revealed that the premotor cortex is important for perceptual judgments rather than the ability to lick. However, coding of perceptual judgments in the premotor cortex and other cortical regions was coupled to actions rather than being independent of them. Finally, we identified a subset of premotor cortex cells whose activity encoded the current block identity. Based on these findings, we propose a model in which vibrotactile perceptual judgments are inherently, but flexibly, coupled to actions via cortical activity.