Interactions between motor thalamic field potentials and single unit spiking predict behavior in rats

The thalamus plays a central role in generating circuit-level neural oscillations believed to coordinate brain activity over large spatiotemporal scales. Such thalamic influences are well-documented for sleep rhythms and in sensory systems, but the relationship between thalamic activity, motor circuit local field potential (LFP) oscillations, and behavior is unknown. We recorded wideband motor thalamic (Mthal) electrophysiology as healthy rats performed a two-alternative forced choice task. The power of delta (1 − 4 Hz), beta (13 − 30 Hz), low gamma (30 − 70 Hz), and high gamma (70 − 200 Hz) oscillations were strongly modulated by task performance. As in cortex, delta phase predicted beta/low gamma power and reaction time. Furthermore, delta phase differentially predicted spike timing in functionally distinct populations of Mthal neurons, which also predicted task performance and beta power. These complex relationships suggest mechanisms for commonly observed LFP-LFP and spike-LFP interactions, as well as subcortical influences on motor output.