Selective filtering of relevant sensory signals in parietal cortex

Selective filtering of relevant sensory signals in parietal cortex | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Selective filtering of relevant sensory signals in parietal cortex Caroline Runyan, Constance Bassi, Saloni Saxena, Mabry Smyer, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8564427/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Animals must flexibly adjust their behavior to respond appropriately in changing behavioral situations, in order to survive and thrive. The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) has been implicated in flexible decision-making, as it encodes sensory stimuli depending on their behavioral relevance [1] and is required to adapt to changes in stimulus-response contingencies in behavioral tasks [2]. Here, we show that while mice performed an auditory decision-making task, the temporal organization of neural activity differed across excitatory and inhibitory interneuron subtypes, with pyramidal neurons sparsely encoding task-related information. Sensory responses of all cell types were modulated according to behavioral relevance in the task, and signatures of this modulation were evident even before the presentation of sensory stimuli. Population activity patterns preceding stimulus presentation predicted the strength of sensory responses and even the mouse's behavioral accuracy in the task. A network model revealed that randomly organized inhibitory connectivity could replicate the selective filtering of sensory responses, but that context-dependent inputs to the network must be targeted to neurons responding to behaviorally relevant cues, and avoid those responding to irrelevant cues. Our results reveal a selective filtering mechanism in cortical circuits underlying flexible decision-making. Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Neural circuits Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Computational neuroscience/Network models Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Sensory processing cortical circuits perceptual decision-making population coding Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8564427","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":614952474,"identity":"3b4343a2-98df-4d58-a9ca-7837d6ce9d28","order_by":0,"name":"Caroline Runyan","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAArklEQVRIiWNgGAWjYPACGwY2MM1GvJY0BjY2ZtK0HAaqJlaL+YzcYxI/d5zP45PvP8DwoewwYS0yN/LSJHvP3C4GOYxxxjkitEhI5JhJ8LbdTmwDamHmbSNSi+TftnMQLX+J1SLN23YAooWRKC08b4ytZduSgX5JNjjYcy6dCC3sOYY337bZ5ck3H3z44EeZNWEtQMAiASQSQKwDRKkHAuYPMC2jYBSMglEwCrACAM0hMb+jp2EyAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9066-4542","institution":"University of Pittsburgh","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Caroline","middleName":"","lastName":"Runyan","suffix":""},{"id":614952475,"identity":"1ffbe7d4-fa0e-4cc3-a2e5-59f85f20e48e","order_by":1,"name":"Constance Bassi","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Pittsburgh","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Constance","middleName":"","lastName":"Bassi","suffix":""},{"id":614952476,"identity":"36c7efdb-912c-464f-bead-203fcbfa6135","order_by":2,"name":"Saloni Saxena","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Brown University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Saloni","middleName":"","lastName":"Saxena","suffix":""},{"id":614952477,"identity":"fa9d231c-8c72-4c2a-9569-6bc91f81ac4d","order_by":3,"name":"Mabry Smyer","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Pittsburgh","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Mabry","middleName":"","lastName":"Smyer","suffix":""},{"id":614952478,"identity":"d2a5f45b-81ef-430d-ae3c-0094ffeae331","order_by":4,"name":"James Ryan","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Pittsburgh","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"James","middleName":"","lastName":"Ryan","suffix":""},{"id":614952479,"identity":"754576ce-48df-431f-ba7f-ab8e0eeefc0d","order_by":5,"name":"Chengcheng Huang","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5299-9640","institution":"University of Pittsburgh","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chengcheng","middleName":"","lastName":"Huang","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-09 22:05:41","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8564427/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8564427/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":105904679,"identity":"7822b523-1d53-4a4b-a6c3-0c2cbe30a373","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-01 10:10:13","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":16553815,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"BassietalTextFigs.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8564427/v1_covered_2a65559e-0c69-42ba-ac5f-6d4e32bfe910.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Selective filtering of relevant sensory signals in parietal cortex","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"cortical circuits, perceptual decision-making, population coding","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8564427/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8564427/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Animals must flexibly adjust their behavior to respond appropriately in changing behavioral situations, in order to survive and thrive. The posterior parietal cortex (PPC) has been implicated in flexible decision-making, as it encodes sensory stimuli depending on their behavioral relevance [1] and is required to adapt to changes in stimulus-response contingencies in behavioral tasks [2]. Here, we show that while mice performed an auditory decision-making task, the temporal organization of neural activity differed across excitatory and inhibitory interneuron subtypes, with pyramidal neurons sparsely encoding task-related information. Sensory responses of all cell types were modulated according to behavioral relevance in the task, and signatures of this modulation were evident even before the presentation of sensory stimuli. Population activity patterns preceding stimulus presentation predicted the strength of sensory responses and even the mouse's behavioral accuracy in the task. 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