Shared Cortex-Cerebellum Dynamics in the Execution and Learning of a Motor Task

Abstract

Throughout mammalian neocortex, layer 5 pyramidal cells (L5) project via the pons to a vast number of cerebellar granule cells (GCs), forming a fundamental pathway. Yet it is unknown how neuronal dynamics are transformed through the L5→GC pathway. Here, by directly comparing premotor L5 and GC activity during a forelimb movement task using dual-site two-photon Ca2 imaging, we found that in expert mice, L5 and GC dynamics were highly similar. L5 cells and GCs shared a common set of task-encoding activity patterns, possessed similar diversity of responses, and exhibited high L5-GC correlations comparable to local correlations among L5 cells. Chronic imaging revealed that these dynamics co-emerged in cortex and cerebellum over learning: as behavioral performance improved, L5 cells and GCs converged onto a shared, low-dimensional, task-encoding set of neural activity patterns. Thus, a key function of cortico-cerebellar communication is the propagation of shared dynamics that emerge during learning.