A tactile discrimination task to study neuronal dynamics in freely-moving mice
Abstract Sensory discrimination tasks are valuable tools to study neuronal mechanisms of perception and learning, yet most rodent paradigms rely on head fixation. Here, we present a whisker-dependent go/no-go discrimination task for freely moving mice, compatible with high-resolution electrophysiolo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2025-07-01
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| Series: | Nature Communications |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61792-0 |
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| author | Filippo Heimburg Nadin Mari Saluti Josephine Timm Avi Adlakha Maria Helena Bortolozzo-Gleich Jesús Martín-Cortecero Melina Castelanelli Matthias Klumpp Lee Embray Martin Both Thomas Kuner Alexander Groh |
| author_facet | Filippo Heimburg Nadin Mari Saluti Josephine Timm Avi Adlakha Maria Helena Bortolozzo-Gleich Jesús Martín-Cortecero Melina Castelanelli Matthias Klumpp Lee Embray Martin Both Thomas Kuner Alexander Groh |
| author_sort | Filippo Heimburg |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Sensory discrimination tasks are valuable tools to study neuronal mechanisms of perception and learning, yet most rodent paradigms rely on head fixation. Here, we present a whisker-dependent go/no-go discrimination task for freely moving mice, compatible with high-resolution electrophysiology and calcium imaging. Adult male mice rapidly learned to discriminate aperture widths while foraging on a linear platform, enabling investigations of tactile thresholds, rule reversals, and behavioral flexibility. Neural recordings revealed distributed tactile coding across the thalamocortical system, with units tuned to both sensory and motor features, including whisking, head angle, and spatial position. Aperture selectivity emerged in the barrel cortex during learning, and cortical lesions impaired performance, highlighting cortical involvement in learning and task execution. The setup is modular, automated, and supports simultaneous recordings and imaging aligned to naturalistic behavior. This platform provides a powerful tool to dissect sensory processing and learning in ethologically relevant conditions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-d01d0b286f3c4d12847fc42003c776e4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2041-1723 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-07-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Nature Communications |
| spelling | doaj-art-d01d0b286f3c4d12847fc42003c776e42025-08-20T04:03:02ZengNature PortfolioNature Communications2041-17232025-07-0116112010.1038/s41467-025-61792-0A tactile discrimination task to study neuronal dynamics in freely-moving miceFilippo Heimburg0Nadin Mari Saluti1Josephine Timm2Avi Adlakha3Maria Helena Bortolozzo-Gleich4Jesús Martín-Cortecero5Melina Castelanelli6Matthias Klumpp7Lee Embray8Martin Both9Thomas Kuner10Alexander Groh11Institute for Physiology and Pathophysiology, Heidelberg UniversityInstitute for Physiology and Pathophysiology, Heidelberg UniversityInstitute for Physiology and Pathophysiology, Heidelberg UniversityInstitute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Heidelberg UniversityInstitute for Physiology and Pathophysiology, Heidelberg UniversityInstitute for Physiology and Pathophysiology, Heidelberg UniversityInstitute for Physiology and Pathophysiology, Heidelberg UniversityInstitute for Physiology and Pathophysiology, Heidelberg UniversityInstitute for Physiology and Pathophysiology, Heidelberg UniversityInstitute for Physiology and Pathophysiology, Heidelberg UniversityInstitute for Anatomy and Cell Biology, Heidelberg UniversityInstitute for Physiology and Pathophysiology, Heidelberg UniversityAbstract Sensory discrimination tasks are valuable tools to study neuronal mechanisms of perception and learning, yet most rodent paradigms rely on head fixation. Here, we present a whisker-dependent go/no-go discrimination task for freely moving mice, compatible with high-resolution electrophysiology and calcium imaging. Adult male mice rapidly learned to discriminate aperture widths while foraging on a linear platform, enabling investigations of tactile thresholds, rule reversals, and behavioral flexibility. Neural recordings revealed distributed tactile coding across the thalamocortical system, with units tuned to both sensory and motor features, including whisking, head angle, and spatial position. Aperture selectivity emerged in the barrel cortex during learning, and cortical lesions impaired performance, highlighting cortical involvement in learning and task execution. The setup is modular, automated, and supports simultaneous recordings and imaging aligned to naturalistic behavior. This platform provides a powerful tool to dissect sensory processing and learning in ethologically relevant conditions.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61792-0 |
| spellingShingle | Filippo Heimburg Nadin Mari Saluti Josephine Timm Avi Adlakha Maria Helena Bortolozzo-Gleich Jesús Martín-Cortecero Melina Castelanelli Matthias Klumpp Lee Embray Martin Both Thomas Kuner Alexander Groh A tactile discrimination task to study neuronal dynamics in freely-moving mice Nature Communications |
| title | A tactile discrimination task to study neuronal dynamics in freely-moving mice |
| title_full | A tactile discrimination task to study neuronal dynamics in freely-moving mice |
| title_fullStr | A tactile discrimination task to study neuronal dynamics in freely-moving mice |
| title_full_unstemmed | A tactile discrimination task to study neuronal dynamics in freely-moving mice |
| title_short | A tactile discrimination task to study neuronal dynamics in freely-moving mice |
| title_sort | tactile discrimination task to study neuronal dynamics in freely moving mice |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-61792-0 |
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