Complementary cortical and striatal encoding of locomotor preparation and performance

Cortical and striatal circuits encode information related to both motor initiation and execution. While neural dynamics in these areas show substantial similarities, possibly reflecting shared information content, studies directly comparing the cortical and striatal encoding of locomotor preparation and performance have been lacking. Here, we contrasted the neural coding properties of mouse primary motor and medial prefrontal cortex, as well as dorsolateral and dorsomedial striatum, prior to and during bouts of self-paced locomotion in an open field. All four areas contained cells active during both the preparatory and performance periods of locomotion. However, the decoding of behaviorally relevant information using population-level activity revealed significant regional variations. Specifically, dorsomedial striatum more accurately encoded the preparatory period prior to walking, while primary motor cortex, followed by dorsolateral striatum, more accurately encoded rhythmic limb kinematics during walking. Together, this work provides evidence for a complementary neural coding scheme for locomotor preparation and performance in cortical and striatal circuits.