Cholinergic modulation of interhemispheric inhibition in the mouse motor cortex

Interhemispheric inhibition (IHI) of the homotopic motor cortex is believed to be effective for accurate unilateral motor function. However, the cellular mechanisms underlying IHI during unilateral motor behavior remain unclear. Furthermore, the impact of the neuromodulator acetylcholine (ACh) on IHI and the associated cellular mechanisms are not well understood. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted recordings of neuronal activity from the bilateral motor cortex of mice during the paw-reaching task. Subsequently, we analyzed interhemispheric spike correlation at the cell-pair level, classifying putative cell types to explore the underlying cellular circuitry mechanisms of IHI. We found a cell-type pair-specific enhancement of the interhemispheric spike correlation when the mice were engaged in the reaching task. We also found that the interhemispheric spike correlation was modulated by pharmacological ACh manipulation. The local field responses to contralateral excitation differed along the cortical depths, and muscarinic receptor antagonism enhanced the inhibitory component of the field response in deep layers. The muscarinic subtype M2 receptor is predominantly expressed in deep cortical neurons, including GABAergic interneurons. These results suggest that GABAergic interneurons expressing muscarinic receptors in deep layers mediate the neuromodulation of IHI in the homotopic motor cortex.