Dynamic Predictive Spatial Encoding of Motor Intentions In Area V6A of the Posterior Parietal Cortex

Abstract

To compute motor plans or intentions, the nervous system must translate tar-get locations into body-centered coordinates. Visual stimuli, however, are sensed in retinotopic coordinates, which shift with eye movements. Furthermore, sen-sorimotor delays necessitate predictive processing. How does the brain compute timely gaze-invariant target locations? The dorsal visual pathway encodes spa-tial intentions, yet the underlying dynamic mechanisms remain elusive. Using multilevel analysis, we characterized intention coding in area V6A of the Pos-terior Parietal Cortex during delayed reaching tasks under diverse gaze-target conditions. We revealed a consistent population-level intention coding in V6A as eye positions changed. Next, we identified differential single-cell encoding of gaze and reaching targets in retinotopic, gaze-posture, and body-centered coordinates and elucidated the dynamical spatial normalization. Finally, we demonstrated context-dependent predictive spatial encoding in V6A, advancing our understand-ing of the temporal evolution of predictive visuomotor transformations during motor planning.