Cerebellar Purkinje cells in male macaques combine sensory and motor information to predict the sensory consequences of active self-motion.

Abstract

Accurate perception and behavior rely on distinguishing sensory signals arising from unexpected events from those originating from our own voluntary actions. In the vestibular system, sensory input that is the consequence of active self-motion is canceled early at the first central stage of processing to ensure postural and perceptual stability. However, the source of the required cancellation signal was unknown. Here, we show that the cerebellum combines sensory and motor-related information to predict the sensory consequences of active self-motion. Recordings during attempted but unrealized head movements in two male rhesus monkeys, revealed that the motor-related signals encoded by anterior vermis Purkinje cells explain their altered sensitivity to active versus passive self-motion. Further, a model combining responses from ~40 Purkinje cells accounted for the cancellation observed in early vestibular pathways. These findings establish how cerebellar Purkinje cells predict sensory outcomes of self-movements, resolving a long-standing issue of sensory signal suppression during self-motion.