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Zhang L, Liu C, Zhou X, Zhou H, Luo S, Wang Q, Yao Z, Chen JF. Neural representation and modulation of volitional motivation in response to escalating efforts. J Physiol 2023; 601:631-645. [PMID: 36534700 PMCID: PMC10108165 DOI: 10.1113/jp283915] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/18/2022] [Accepted: 12/07/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Task-dependent volitional control of the selected neural activity in the cortex is critical to neuroprosthetic learning to achieve reliable and robust control of the external device. The volitional control of neural activity is driven by a motivational factor (volitional motivation), which directly reinforces the target neurons via real-time biofeedback. However, in the absence of motor behaviour, how do we evaluate volitional motivation? Here, we defined the criterion (ΔF/F) of the calcium fluorescence signal in a volitionally controlled neural task, then escalated the efforts by progressively increasing the number of reaching the criterion or holding time after reaching the criterion. We devised calcium-based progressive threshold-crossing events (termed 'Calcium PTE') and calcium-based progressive threshold-crossing holding-time (termed 'Calcium PTH') for quantitative assessment of volitional motivation in response to progressively escalating efforts. Furthermore, we used this novel neural representation of volitional motivation to explore the neural circuit and neuromodulator bases for volitional motivation. As with behavioural motivation, chemogenetic activation and pharmacological blockade of the striatopallidal pathway decreased and increased, respectively, the breakpoints of the 'Calcium PTE' and 'Calcium PTH' in response to escalating efforts. Furthermore, volitional and behavioural motivation shared similar dopamine dynamics in the nucleus accumbens in response to trial-by-trial escalating efforts. In general, the development of a neural representation of volitional motivation may open a new avenue for smooth and effective control of brain-machine interface tasks. KEY POINTS: Volitional motivation is quantitatively evaluated by M1 neural activity in response to progressively escalating volitional efforts. The striatopallidal pathway and adenosine A2A receptor modulate volitional motivation in response to escalating efforts. Dopamine dynamics encode prediction signal for reward in response to repeated escalating efforts during motor and volitional conditioning. Mice learn to modulate neural activity to compensate for repeated escalating efforts in volitional control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liping Zhang
- The Molecular Neuropharmacology Laboratory and the Eye-Brain Research Center, The State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Optometry and Vision Science, School of Ophthalmology & Optometry and Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Chengwei Liu
- The Molecular Neuropharmacology Laboratory and the Eye-Brain Research Center, The State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Optometry and Vision Science, School of Ophthalmology & Optometry and Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Xiaopeng Zhou
- The Molecular Neuropharmacology Laboratory and the Eye-Brain Research Center, The State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Optometry and Vision Science, School of Ophthalmology & Optometry and Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Hui Zhou
- The Molecular Neuropharmacology Laboratory and the Eye-Brain Research Center, The State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Optometry and Vision Science, School of Ophthalmology & Optometry and Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Shengtao Luo
- The Molecular Neuropharmacology Laboratory and the Eye-Brain Research Center, The State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Optometry and Vision Science, School of Ophthalmology & Optometry and Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Qin Wang
- The Molecular Neuropharmacology Laboratory and the Eye-Brain Research Center, The State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Optometry and Vision Science, School of Ophthalmology & Optometry and Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Zhimo Yao
- The Molecular Neuropharmacology Laboratory and the Eye-Brain Research Center, The State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Optometry and Vision Science, School of Ophthalmology & Optometry and Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
| | - Jiang-Fan Chen
- The Molecular Neuropharmacology Laboratory and the Eye-Brain Research Center, The State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Optometry and Vision Science, School of Ophthalmology & Optometry and Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China.,Oujiang Laboratory (Zhejiang Laboratory for Regenerative Medicine, Vision and Brain Health), School of Ophthalmology & Optometry and Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, China
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Yadav T, Tellez OM, Francis JT. Reward-dependent Graded Suppression of Sensorimotor Beta-band Local Field Potentials During an Arm Reaching Task in NHP. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. IEEE ENGINEERING IN MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY SOCIETY. ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 2022; 2022:3123-3126. [PMID: 36086028 DOI: 10.1109/embc48229.2022.9871212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
A better understanding of reward signaling in the sensorimotor cortices can aid in developing Reinforcement Learning-based Brain-Computer Interfaces (RLBCI) for restoration of movement functions with fewer implants. Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) using local field potentials (LFPs) have recently achieved performance comparable to spike-BCIs [1]. With superior stability over time, LFPs may be the preferred signal for BCIs. We show that sensorimotor LFPs can provide reward level information (R1 - R3) like spikes[2]. We used a cued reward-level reaching task in which reward information was temporally dissociated from movement information. This allowed the study of reward- and movement-related modulations in LFPs. We recorded simultaneously from contralateral primary -somatosensory (S1), -motor (M1), and the dorsal premotor (PMd) cortices in a female Macaca Mulatta. We found that all three cortices' average beta band (14-30 Hz) amplitude showed robust modulation with reward levels during the cue presentation period. Such modulation was consistently observed after controlling for cue color, differences in behavioral variables, and electromyogram (EMG) activity. Statistical amplitude analysis showed that reward level could be extracted from the simple LFP feature of beta band amplitude, even before a reaching target appeared, and no specific reach plan could be developed. Clinical Relevance - The availability of reward-related signals in the sensorimotor cortical (S1, M1,and PMd) LFPs' prior to movement planning opens new avenues to build RLBCIs with fewer implants recording fewer sites among different cortices Reward and motivational representations derived from LFPs compared to spikes allow the development of long-term clinical applications given LFP's stability and ease of recording over long periods.
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Francis JT, Rozenboym A, von Kraus L, Xu S, Chhatbar P, Semework M, Hawley E, Chapin J. Similarities Between Somatosensory Cortical Responses Induced via Natural Touch and Microstimulation in the Ventral Posterior Lateral Thalamus in Macaques. Front Neurosci 2022; 16:812837. [PMID: 35250454 PMCID: PMC8888535 DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2022.812837] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2021] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Lost sensations, such as touch, could be restored by microstimulation (MiSt) along the sensory neural substrate. Such neuroprosthetic sensory information can be used as feedback from an invasive brain-machine interface (BMI) to control a robotic arm/hand, such that tactile and proprioceptive feedback from the sensorized robotic arm/hand is directly given to the BMI user. Microstimulation in the human somatosensory thalamus (Vc) has been shown to produce somatosensory perceptions. However, until recently, systematic methods for using thalamic stimulation to evoke naturalistic touch perceptions were lacking. We have recently presented rigorous methods for determining a mapping between ventral posterior lateral thalamus (VPL) MiSt, and neural responses in the somatosensory cortex (S1), in a rodent model (Choi et al., 2016; Choi and Francis, 2018). Our technique minimizes the difference between S1 neural responses induced by natural sensory stimuli and those generated via VPL MiSt. Our goal is to develop systems that know what neural response a given MiSt will produce and possibly allow the development of natural “sensation.” To date, our optimization has been conducted in the rodent model and simulations. Here, we present data from simple non-optimized thalamic MiSt during peri-operative experiments, where we used MiSt in the VPL of macaques, which have a somatosensory system more like humans, as compared to our previous rat work (Li et al., 2014; Choi et al., 2016). We implanted arrays of microelectrodes across the hand area of the macaque S1 cortex as well as in the VPL. Multi and single-unit recordings were used to compare cortical responses to natural touch and thalamic MiSt in the anesthetized state. Post-stimulus time histograms were highly correlated between the VPL MiSt and natural touch modalities, adding support to the use of VPL MiSt toward producing a somatosensory neuroprosthesis in humans.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph Thachil Francis
- Cullen College of Engineering, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Houston, Houston, TX, United States
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, State of New York Downstate Medical School, Brooklyn, NY, United States
- *Correspondence: Joseph Thachil Francis,
| | - Anna Rozenboym
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, State of New York Downstate Medical School, Brooklyn, NY, United States
- Department of Biological Sciences, Kingsborough Community College-CUNY, Brooklyn, NY, United States
| | - Lee von Kraus
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, State of New York Downstate Medical School, Brooklyn, NY, United States
| | - Shaohua Xu
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, State of New York Downstate Medical School, Brooklyn, NY, United States
| | - Pratik Chhatbar
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, State of New York Downstate Medical School, Brooklyn, NY, United States
- Department of Neurology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, United States
| | - Mulugeta Semework
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, State of New York Downstate Medical School, Brooklyn, NY, United States
| | - Emerson Hawley
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, State of New York Downstate Medical School, Brooklyn, NY, United States
| | - John Chapin
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, State of New York Downstate Medical School, Brooklyn, NY, United States
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