# Multiple timescales of motor planning and execution in mouse cortex

> **NIH NIH F31** · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · 2020 · $33,236

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract:
For animals to execute complicated behaviors, successful motor planning and execution is
essential. Moreover, the sequence of events leading to successful goal-based behavior takes
place over a wide range of timescales. For example, when walking from home to work, one must
first make an abstract, long-timescale decision to go to work, which much then be translated into
a sequence of shorter-timescale right-left turning decisions, which are translated into the finely
fluctuating electrical patterns that control the muscles. How motor planning and execution occur
simultaneously over many timescales in populations of motor cortex neurons is not well
understood. Much work in humans and nonhuman primates have shown that visual and auditory
stimuli integrate over multiple timescales. This work has shown that early sensory regions, like
primary visual cortex, respond to fast fluctuations in the environment. This information is
integrated to longer-timescale information in secondary cortical regions, with the longest-
timescale information in frontal and association areas. We therefore hypothesize that secondary
motor cortex (M2) neurons control behavior over longer timescales than primary motor cortex
(M1) neurons. To study this phenomenon, I have built a setup in which head-fixed mice navigate
in virtual reality to a rewarded location. In this setup, I can record video from all sides of the animal
for high spatiotemporal resolution measurement of motor behaviors. I have developed machine
learning algorithms to extract 3D pose data from these videos. In Aim 1, I will use calcium imaging
to record large numbers of neurons in mouse M1 and M2 to correlate the activity of individual
neurons and populations to the animal’s ongoing pose kinematics. We will supplement with
targeted silicon probe recordings to capture fast neural responses. In Aim 2, I will compare the
calcium dynamics in populations of M1 and M2 neurons in mice trained to perform a virtual motor
planning task versus mice that have not been trained. We hypothesize that training to plan motor
actions increases the timescale of M1/M2 neural activity. In Aim 3, we will use optogenetic
silencing in specific regions of cortex to perturb the animal’s motor behavior. We hypothesize that
the duration of the perturbed movements will be longer when M2 is perturbed than M1. In this
way, we will study how different cortical regions relate to behavior over many timescales. This
proposal will broaden our knowledge of cortical processing in general, and motor planning and
execution in particular. Patients with mental illness, such as ADHD, autism, and Asperger’s
disorder show impaired ability to plan upcoming movements. The first step to successfully treating
these illnesses is to better understand how motor planning occurs in general.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10007591
- **Project number:** 5F31NS108450-02
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
- **Principal Investigator:** James Philip Robinson-Bohnslav
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $33,236
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-05-01 → 2021-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10007591

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10007591, Multiple timescales of motor planning and execution in mouse cortex (5F31NS108450-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10007591. Licensed CC0.

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