The convergence of inter- and intrahemispheric signals gives V1 a rich representation of head movements - fundamental for interpreting visual scenes during motion: www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...
Great collab with @alesz.bsky.social, E. Hamada, & N. Brunel back in my postdoc years in the Scanziani lab

Meanwhile, the contralateral visual cortex provides head movement signals during ipsiversive movements - creating a complementary system.
Crucially, the pulvinar already encodes these same variables, suggesting subcortical computation.

The ipsilateral pulvinar delivers the main head movement signal, with a bias toward contraversive movements (e.g., clockwise rotations are encoded more strongly in left V1).

By silencing different brain regions, we identified two main sources of these vestibular signals to V1:
• Ipsilateral pulvinar (thalamus)
• Contralateral visual cortex
Each provides complementary directional information.

We recorded from V1 neurons across all cortical layers in head-fixed mice during servo motor-driven rotations in darkness (no visual input). V1 neurons robustly encode head movement direction, velocity, and acceleration - even without vision!

AMAZING work, guys! Congratulations everyone!

Congrats Abhi and team! 🔥