PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Ken-Ichi Shibata AU - Takuma Tanaka AU - Hiroyuki Hioki AU - Takahiro Furuta TI - Projection Patterns of Corticofugal Neurons Associated with Vibrissa Movement AID - 10.1523/ENEURO.0190-18.2018 DP - 2018 Sep 01 TA - eneuro PG - ENEURO.0190-18.2018 VI - 5 IP - 5 4099 - http://www.eneuro.org/content/5/5/ENEURO.0190-18.2018.short 4100 - http://www.eneuro.org/content/5/5/ENEURO.0190-18.2018.full SO - eNeuro2018 Sep 01; 5 AB - Rodents actively whisk their vibrissae, which, when they come in contact with surrounding objects, enables rodents to gather spatial information about the environment. Cortical motor command of whisking is crucial for the control of vibrissa movement. Using awake and head-fixed rats, we investigated the correlations between axonal projection patterns and firing properties in identified layer 5 neurons in the motor cortex, which are associated with vibrissa movement. We found that cortical neurons that sent axons to the brainstem fired preferentially during large-amplitude vibrissa movements and that corticocallosal neurons exhibited a high firing rate during small vibrissa movements or during a quiet state. The differences between these two corticofugal circuits may be related to the mechanisms of motor-associated information processing.