Somatosensory cortex shapes perceptual decision bias via the superior colliculus
Abstract
Sensory inputs reach cortical and subcortical areas in parallel, but how they coordinate to guide decisions remains unknown. We examined the roles of the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and the superior colliculus (SC) in mice performing whisker-mediated tactile detection. While inactivating S1 contralateral to the stimulus increased detection threshold, inactivating ipsilateral S1 decreased it. These opposing effects reflected shifts in choice bias rather than sensitivity. Unilateral SC inactivation produced similar directional effects, whereas bilateral inactivation of either S1 or SC neutralized bias. Furthermore, SC lesions impaired detection performance, and combined S1 inactivation caused no further impairment, indicating that S1-mediated shifts in bias were SC-dependent. S1 inactivation also decreased sensory-evoked neural activity in SC, and choice decoding revealed that behavioral impairment was more closely associated with changes in SC population activity than with loss of sensory encoding in S1. Thus, S1 shapes perceptual bias by modulating SC-dependent circuits that transform sensory evidence into perceptual decisions.
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BibTeX
@article{nam2026somatosensory,
title = {{Somatosensory cortex shapes perceptual decision bias via the superior colliculus}},
author = {Alice Y. Nam and Jiwook Shin and Morgan Tenney and Baihe Zhang and Y. Kate Hong},
journal = {Nature Communications},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-78331-0},
url = {https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78331-0},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Somatosensory cortex shapes perceptual decision bias via the superior colliculus
AU - Alice Y. Nam
AU - Jiwook Shin
AU - Morgan Tenney
AU - Baihe Zhang
AU - Y. Kate Hong
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/10
JO - Nature Communications
DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-78331-0
UR - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-78331-0
AB - Sensory inputs reach cortical and subcortical areas in parallel, but how they coordinate to guide decisions remains unknown. We examined the roles of the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) and the superior colliculus (SC) in mice performing whisker-mediated tactile detection. While inactivating S1 contralateral to the stimulus increased detection threshold, inactivating ipsilateral S1 decreased it. These opposing effects reflected shifts in choice bias rather than sensitivity. Unilateral SC inactivation produced similar directional effects, whereas bilateral inactivation of either S1 or SC neutralized bias. Furthermore, SC lesions impaired detection performance, and combined S1 inactivation caused no further impairment, indicating that S1-mediated shifts in bias were SC-dependent. S1 inactivation also decreased sensory-evoked neural activity in SC, and choice decoding revealed that behavioral impairment was more closely associated with changes in SC population activity than with loss of sensory encoding in S1. Thus, S1 shapes perceptual bias by modulating SC-dependent circuits that transform sensory evidence into perceptual decisions.
SN - 2041-1723
ER -