Biology subjects

Wilhite, C.

Publications and source records attributed to Wilhite, C..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Directional alignment of turn-related activity with locomotor dynamics in the superior colliculus

Fluid behavior requires temporal coordination across brain systems that orchestrate movement. A clear example is locomotion, in which left and right turns are not only precisely coordinated with the ongoing stepping rhythm but occur at opposite phases of the stepping cycle. The circuits underlying this coordination remain poorly understood. We discover that neuronal activity in the mouse superior colliculus, a conserved midbrain structure involved in turning behavior, is tightly phase-locked to the stepping rhythm. Notably, neurons selective for left and right turns fire at opposite phases of the stepping cycle. Moreover, this phase opposition is already evident during straight locomotion, before the animal initiates a turn. By aligning the activity of left and right turn neurons to opposite phases of the stepping cycle, the superior colliculus may create alternating windows of opportunity for left and right turns, facilitating the seamless execution of turns during locomotion.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Coordination of turn-related activity in the superior colliculus with locomotor dynamics and hippocampal representations of possible futures

The ability to represent possible futures allows animals to evaluate different options and act accordingly. The hippocampus can express representations of possible future paths, but the brain structures involved in transforming these representations into actions remain unknown. Here we show that hippocampal representations of possible future paths predict motor-related activity in the superior colliculus (SC), a midbrain structure involved in turning. By recording simultaneously from hippocampal neurons and from left- or right-preferring "turn cells" in the motor layers of the SC in navigating mice, we found that hippocampal representations of possible left or right future paths predicted increased firing rates of SC turn cells with matching left or right turn preference. This relationship was also evident in the animals' behavior: when the hippocampus represented future paths that were not ultimately taken, movement trajectories were nonetheless biased toward those paths, as if animals partially enacted possible futures that were represented but not selected. These results reveal a coordination between a cognitive and a motor structure and provide a potential pathway for mental simulations of possible futures to influence actions.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Vision shapes neural maps of space through an ancient midbrain pathway

Mammals rely on their senses to establish their position in space. Neural activity in the hippocampus maps position, yet how sensory signals reach the hippocampus remains poorly understood. Here we uncover the visual pathways informing spatial maps in the mouse hippocampus. Hippocampal activity in mice traversing a track in alternating periods of light and darkness revealed two distinct maps, one in light and one in dark. Surprisingly, distinct maps persisted following bilateral ablations of primary visual cortex, indicating that visual signals still reach the hippocampus. Conversely, blocking the ancestral pathway linking superior colliculus to lateral visual cortex markedly reduced the difference between light and dark maps. Thus, this conserved pathway relays visual information to the hippocampus, potentially explaining residual visual navigation in cortically blind humans.

neuroscience↗