Mapping of cortical contributions to sensorimotor transformations during spontaneous and flexible behaviours

As animals navigate the world, they encounter a continuous streamof sensory information whichmust be appropriately integrated and converted into actions to guide behavior through the process known as sensorimotor transformations. While we begin to understand some mechanisms involved in the processing of sensory stimuli, and its link into adequate motor actions through reward-based learning, it is still unclear how behavioral state and environmental context influence these transformations. In this thesis, I present a series of experiments aimed at investigating the cortical contributions to sensorimotor transformations during spontaneous and flexible behaviors from a systems neuroscience perspective. By employing a combination of optogenetic manipulations, wide-field calcium imaging, and behavioral assays, I aimed to elucidate the role of specific cortical regions and genetically defined subpopulations of neurons in integrating sensory and contextual information to modulate motor outputs.

This thesis provides new insights into the anatomical and functional organisation of the sensorimotor cortex, in a cortex-wide, cell-class and layer-specificmanner, and reveals how cortical dynamics are modulated by environmental context to guide behavior.