Reaching for objects is a fundamental component of most of our actions, yet the underlying neuronal circuits remain poorly understood. To dissect the neuronal dynamics of reaching movements a wide range of molecular, optogenetic and optical imaging tools are necessary. These tools are available in rodent research where robust behavioral paradigms are lacking. Current reaching tasks in rodents have key limitations: low number of trials per session (<50), manual reward delivery and unidirectional target presentation. This thesis describes a multi-directional reaching task that overcomes these limitations by automating the training and replacing food with water rewards. Head-restrained mice rapidly learned to locate water droplets and reach for them hundreds of times per session. Interestingly, a chemosensory system was used for target localization instead of the expected whisker system. Cortical inactivation and two photon imaging experiments revealed the key role of motor cortex in both reaching movement execution and direction selectivity.