美国康奈尔大学Jesse H. Goldberg课题组取得一项新成果。他们发现舌头到达和错过目标时依赖于皮质的矫正。这一研究成果于2021年5月19日发表在国际顶尖学术期刊《自然》杂志上。
他们结合了千赫兹帧频成像和基于深度学习的神经网络，以解决饮水嘴喝水的小鼠3D舌动力学。成功的舔水需要进行矫正运动，类似于灵长类动物到达舌头时进行的在线矫正，这是舌头错过了看不见的、遥远的或移动的目标之后发生的。前外侧运动皮层的光抑制作用损害了矫正，从而导致垂体漏水而错过了喷嘴。
前外侧运动皮层的神经活动反映了即将发生的、正在进行的和过去的矫正性亚运动以及预测的喷嘴接触的误差。尽管持续时间不到十分之一秒，但一次小鼠舔水就表现出与灵长类动物触及相关的在线运动控制的特征，包括未舔中后皮质相关的矫正。
据介绍，准确的舌头控制对于喝酒、饮食和发声都是必要的。但是，由于舌头运动快速且难以解决，因此对语言运动学的神经控制仍然知之甚少。
附：英文原文
Title: Cortex-dependent corrections as the tongue reaches for and misses targets
Author: Tejapratap Bollu, Brendan S. Ito, Samuel C. Whitehead, Brian Kardon, James Redd, Mei Hong Liu, Jesse H. Goldberg
Issue&Volume: 2021-05-19
Abstract: Precise tongue control is necessary for drinking, eating and vocalizing1,2,3. However, because tongue movements are fast and difficult to resolve, neural control of lingual kinematics remains poorly understood. Here we combine kilohertz-frame-rate imaging and a deep-learning-based neural network to resolve 3D tongue kinematics in mice drinking from a water spout. Successful licks required corrective submovements that—similar to online corrections during primate reaches4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11—occurred after the tongue missed unseen, distant or displaced targets. Photoinhibition of anterolateral motor cortex impaired corrections, which resulted in hypometric licks that missed the spout. Neural activity in anterolateral motor cortex reflected upcoming, ongoing and past corrective submovements, as well as errors in predicted spout contact. Although less than a tenth of a second in duration, a single mouse lick exhibits the hallmarks of online motor control associated with a primate reach, including cortex-dependent corrections after misses.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03561-9
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03561-9
Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504
官方网址：http://www.nature.com/
投稿链接：http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html
本期文章：《自然》：Online/在线发表
