Two-photon imaging of neuronal activity in motor cortex of marmosets during upper-limb movement tasks

Nat Commun. 2018 May 14;9(1):1879. doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04286-6.

Abstract

Two-photon imaging in behaving animals has revealed neuronal activities related to behavioral and cognitive function at single-cell resolution. However, marmosets have posed a challenge due to limited success in training on motor tasks. Here we report the development of protocols to train head-fixed common marmosets to perform upper-limb movement tasks and simultaneously perform two-photon imaging. After 2-5 months of training sessions, head-fixed marmosets can control a manipulandum to move a cursor to a target on a screen. We conduct two-photon calcium imaging of layer 2/3 neurons in the motor cortex during this motor task performance, and detect task-relevant activity from multiple neurons at cellular and subcellular resolutions. In a two-target reaching task, some neurons show direction-selective activity over the training days. In a short-term force-field adaptation task, some neurons change their activity when the force field is on. Two-photon calcium imaging in behaving marmosets may become a fundamental technique for determining the spatial organization of the cortical dynamics underlying action and cognition.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Action Potentials / physiology
  • Animals
  • Brain Mapping
  • Calcium / physiology*
  • Callithrix
  • Cognition / physiology*
  • Immobilization
  • Male
  • Microscopy, Fluorescence, Multiphoton
  • Molecular Imaging
  • Motor Cortex / anatomy & histology
  • Motor Cortex / physiology*
  • Movement / physiology*
  • Neurons / cytology
  • Neurons / physiology
  • Psychomotor Performance / physiology*
  • Single-Cell Analysis
  • Task Performance and Analysis
  • Upper Extremity / physiology*

Substances

  • Calcium