Extended Data Figure 9: Schematic of learning-related changes in the relationship of motor cortex activity and movement.
From: Emergence of reproducible spatiotemporal activity during motor learning
Top: abstract space of activity patterns. Bottom: abstract space of movements. Circles in the movement space represent observed movements, and ovals in the activity space represent possible activity patterns that can lead to corresponding movements. Crosses and arrows represent example individual trials of activity–movement pairs. In naive animals, each trial involves variable activity and movement patterns as illustrated by scattered crosses and multiple movements. In this stage, the relationship between activity and movement is inconsistent (that is, degenerate), such that same movement is derived from different activity patterns in different trials. During learning, this degeneracy is reduced and a reproducible spatiotemporal activity pattern emerges in the motor cortex that reliably generates the learned movement. This learned activity pattern (bold cross) is rarely, if at all, observed in naive stages.
