Multiple behavior-specific cancellation signals contribute to suppressing predictable sensory reafference in a cerebellum-like structure [RESEARCH ARTICLE]

Nicole Y. Lai, Jordan M. Bell, and David Bodznick Movement induces sensory stimulation of an animal's own sensory receptors, termed reafference. With a few exceptions, notably vestibular and proprioception, this reafference is unwanted sensory noise and must be selectively filtered in order to detect relevant external sensory signals. In the cerebellum-like electrosensory nucleus of elasmobranch fish, an adaptive filter preserves novel signals by generating cancellation signals that suppress predictable reafference. A parallel fiber network supplies the principal Purkinje-like neurons (called ascending efferent neurons, AENs) with behavior-associated internal reference signals, including motor corollary discharge and sensory feedback, from which predictive cancellation signals are formed. How distinct behavior-specific cancellation signals interact within AENs when multiple behaviors co-occur and produce complex, changing patterns of reafference is unknown. Here, we show that when multiple streams of internal reference signals are available, cancellation signals form that are specific to parallel fiber inputs temporally correlated with, and therefore predictive of, sensory reafference. A single AEN has the capacity of forming more than one cancellation signal, and AENs form multiple cancellation signals simultaneously and modify them independently during co-occurring behaviors. Cancellation signals update incrementally during continuous behaviors, as well as episodic bouts of...

Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - March 2, 2021 Category: Biology Authors: Lai, N. Y., Bell, J. M., Bodznick, D. Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research