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Instructive signals for motor learning from visual cortical area MT

Nature Neuroscience volume 8, pages 813–819 (2005)Cite this article

An Erratum to this article was published on 01 July 2005

Abstract

Sensory error signals have long been proposed to act as instructive signals to guide motor learning. Here we have exploited the temporal specificity of learning in smooth pursuit eye movements and the well-defined anatomical structure of the neural circuit for pursuit to identify a part of sensory cortex that provides instructive signals for motor learning in monkeys. We show that electrical microstimulation in the motion-sensitive middle temporal area (MT) of extrastriate visual cortex instructs learning in smooth eye movements in a way that closely mimics the learning instructed by real visual motion. We conclude that MT provides instructive signals for motor learning in smooth pursuit eye movements under natural conditions, suggesting a similar role for sensory cortices in many kinds of learned behaviors.

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Figure 1: A sample experiment using MT microstimulation to instruct learning.
Figure 2: Summary of learned eye velocity when stimulation in MT provided the instructive signal for learning.
Figure 3: Summary of learned eye velocity when stimulation in MT combined with target stabilization provided the instructive signal for learning.
Figure 4: Learning instructed by motion of a visual background during orthogonal target motion.
Figure 5: Temporal relationship between learning instructed by MT microstimulation and visual background motion.
Figure 6: Comparison of learning instructed by MT stimulation and visual background motion at different times after the onset of pursuit target motion.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M. Brainard, D. Copenhagen, M. Mauk, W. Newsome, M. Orger, R. Ramachandran, P. Sabes and D. Bodznick for helpful discussion; L. Bocskai, D. Kleinhesselink, K. McGary, S. Ruffner and D. Wolfgang-Kimball for excellent technical support and S. Tokiyama, E. Montgomery, B. St. Amant and K. MacLeod for superb animal care. This work was supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, US National Institutes of Health grant NS34835, and an Achievement Rewards for College Scientists fellowship to M.R.C.

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Author notes

  1. Megan R Carey

    Present address: Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Howard Hughes Medical Institute, W.M. Keck Foundation Center for Integrative Neuroscience, Neuroscience Graduate Program,

    Megan R Carey, Javier F Medina & Stephen G Lisberger

  2. Department of Physiology, University of California, San Francisco, 94143-0444, California, USA

    Megan R Carey, Javier F Medina & Stephen G Lisberger

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  1. Megan R Carey
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Correspondence to Megan R Carey.

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Supplementary information

Supplementary Fig. 1

Quantitative analysis of possible correlations between the amplitude of the learned eye movement and response properties of neurons at each stimulation site. (PDF 199 kb)

Supplementary Fig. 2

Distribution of learned eye velocities across experiments or trials when learning was instructed by MT stimulation without or with target stabilization. (PDF 836 kb)

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Carey, M., Medina, J. & Lisberger, S. Instructive signals for motor learning from visual cortical area MT. Nat Neurosci 8, 813–819 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1470

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