INTRODUCTION: Sensorimotor adaptation updates ongoing movements based on error feedback, but the population dynamics linking primary somatosensory cortex (S1) input to primary motor cortex (M1) during adaptation remain poorly defined.

AIM(S): To track kinematics and cortical activity across learning and sensorimotor adaptation stages, we used a mouse joystick task with controlled force perturbations.

METHOD(S): Head-fixed mice were trained to pull a joystick for reward. A lateral force perturbation was introduced using a magnetic force field. We performed dual-color fiber photometry through an optical fiber implanted in M1 to simultaneously record calcium activity in S1-innervated M1 neurons (jRGECO) and S1 axonal input in M1 (GCaMP). Signals were analyzed during skill acquisition, stable task performance, perturbation onset, adaptation, and washout after perturbation removal, together with joystick kinematic parameters.

RESULTS: Preliminary data indicate that mice show progressive behavioural compensation after perturbation onset and express a washout aftereffect after perturbation removal, consistent with sensorimotor adaptation. Kinematic changes across task phases were accompanied by movement-related calcium signals in both recorded channels. Initial analyses suggest that the temporal profiles of S1-related input signals and M1 population activity are not identical and may change across adaptation stages.

CONCLUSIONS: These results support the feasibility of combining a joystick-based force-field adaptation task with dual-color fiber photometry to study cortical circuit dynamics in mice. Ongoing analyses will determine how changes in S1-M1 activity relate to specific kinematic features and adaptation dynamics.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT: National Science Centre, Poland – Preludium 23, 2024/53/N/NZ4/04146