The importance of accounting for movement when relating neuronal activity to sensory and cognitive processes

A surprising finding of recent studies in mouse is the dominance of widespread movement-related activity throughout the brain, including in early sensory areas. In awake subjects, failing to account for movement risks misattributing movement-related activity to other (e.g., sensory or cognitive) processes. In this article, we (1) review task designs for separating task-related and movement-related activity, (2) review three case studies in which not considering movement would have resulted in critically different interpretations of neuronal function, and (3) discuss functional couplings that may prevent us from ever fully isolating sensory, motor, and cognitive-related activity. Our main thesis is that neural signals related to movement are ubiquitous, and therefore ought to be considered first and foremost when attempting to correlate neuronal activity with task-related processes.

Automated summary

Recent studies have found that movement-related activity is present throughout the mouse brain, including early sensory areas. Failing to consider movement when interpreting neuronal function may lead to misattributing activity to other processes. Functional couplings between movement and other activities make it difficult to fully isolate sensory, motor, and cognitive-related activity.