Interoceptive perception of optogenetic brain stimulation

Abstract

How do animals experience brain manipulations? Optogenetics has allowed us to manipulate selectively and interrogate neural circuits underlying brain function in health and disease. However, in addition to their evoked physiological functions, it is currently unknown whether mice could perceive arbitrary optogenetic stimulations. To address this issue, mice were trained to report optogenetic stimulations to obtain rewards and avoid punishments. It was found that mice could perceive optogenetic manipulations regardless of the brain area modulated, their rewarding effects, or the stimulation of glutamatergic, GABAergic, and dopaminergic cell types. We named this phenomenon optoception. Our findings reveal that mice’s brains are capable of “monitoring” their self-activity via interoception, opening a new way to introduce information to the brain and control brain-computer interfaces. One Sentence Summary Brain manipulations are perceived