Objective The mammalian brain integrates behaviorally relevant sensory information by recruiting large parts of the neocortex to enable precise perception, apt decisions and adequate actions. The large-scale interactions and the distinct roles of the various neocortical regions, namely frontal motor-related areas and posterior sensory-related regions, remain poorly understood. Here, we aim to characterize how behavior-related activity in higher-order regions (e.g. frontal area) of the mouse is spatiotemporally organized, and how does it relate to lower-order regions (e.g. somatosensory cortex). Mice will be trained on an S1-dependent texture discrimination task under head-fixed conditions, enabling simultaneous imaging of neuronal populations. First, we will use a novel wide-field preparation to map lower and higher-order functions throughout the cortex. Next, we will zoom-in on specific areas of interest using two-photon microscopy to achieve single cell resolution. Finally, we will use an array of labeling techniques to track behavior-dependent activity of neuronal populations that project to a specific area. A special emphasis will be to identify how the activity in subsets of neurons that project ‘top-down’, from frontal areas to the primary sensory area, relates to different behavioral aspects. We expect that our results will provide fundamental insights into the contribution of frontal cortical regions to perception-related and decision-related activity before sensation (anticipation), during sensation (texture touch) and after sensation (holding in memory and 'licking for reward' action). We believe that this multidisciplinary project in behaving animals is a challenging and promising approach bound to generate novel and exciting results which will be of great interest to the scientific community. Fields of science natural sciencescomputer and information sciencesdata sciencenatural sciencesbiological sciencesneurobiologycognitive neurosciencemedical and health sciencesbasic medicineneurologydementiaalzheimernatural sciencesphysical sciencesopticsmicroscopysocial sciencessociologysocial issuessocial inequalities Programme(s) H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Main Programme H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility Topic(s) MSCA-IF-2014-GF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF-GF) Call for proposal H2020-MSCA-IF-2014 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MSCA-IF-GF - Global Fellowships Coordinator THE HEBREW UNIVERSITY OF JERUSALEM Net EU contribution € 278 674,20 Address Edmond j safra campus givat ram 91904 Jerusalem Israel See on map Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 0,00 Partners (1) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all Partner Partner organisations contribute to the implementation of the action, but do not sign the Grant Agreement. UNIVERSITAT ZURICH Switzerland Net EU contribution € 0,00 Address Ramistrasse 71 8006 Zurich See on map Region Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Zürich Zürich Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Other funding € 187 419,60