Specific connectivity optimizes learning in thalamocortical loops

Cortico-thalamo-cortical loops have a central role in cognition and motor control, but precisely how thalamus contributes to these processes is unclear. Recent studies showing evidence of plasticity in thalamocortical synapses indicate a role for thalamus in shaping cortical dynamics – and thus behavior – through learning. Since corticothalamic projections compress cortical activity into a lower-dimensional thalamic activity space, we hypothesized that the computational role of thalamus would depend critically on the structure of corticothalamic connectivity. To test this, we identified the optimal corticothalamic structure that promotes biologically plausible learning in thalamocortical synapses. We found that corticothalamic structures specialized to carry an efference copy of the cortical output benefit motor control, while corticothalamic connections that communicate the directions of highest variance in cortical activity are optimal for working memory tasks. We analyzed neural recordings from mice performing grasping and delayed discrimination, and found corticothalamic interactions consistent with these predictions. These results suggest that thalamus orchestrates cortical dynamics in a functionally precise manner through structured connectivity.

• Publication year

  2022

• Venue

  bioRxiv

• Publication date

  2022-09-28

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114059PMID 38602873PMCID 11104520
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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