Functional organization of vestibulospinal inputs responsible for tail postural control in larval .

In all vertebrates, maintaining trunk posture primarily depends on descending commands originating from brainstem vestibulospinal nuclei. Despite being broadly outlined across species, the detailed anatomical and operational structure of these vestibulospinal networks remains poorly understood. frogs have previously served as an excellent model for exploring such anatomical and functional aspects in relation to the animal's behavioral requirements.

Cholinergic Modulation of Locomotor Circuits in Vertebrates.

Locomotion is a basic motor act essential for survival. Amongst other things, it allows animals to move in their environment to seek food, escape predators, or seek mates for reproduction. The neural mechanisms involved in the control of locomotion have been examined in many vertebrate species and a clearer picture is progressively emerging.

How Does the Central Nervous System for Posture and Locomotion Cope With Damage-Induced Neural Asymmetry?

In most vertebrates, posture and locomotion are achieved by a biomechanical apparatus whose effectors are symmetrically positioned around the main body axis. Logically, motor commands to these effectors are intrinsically adapted to such anatomical symmetry, and the underlying sensory-motor neural networks are correspondingly arranged during central nervous system (CNS) development. However, many developmental and/or life accidents may alter such neural organization and acutely generate asymmetries in motor operation that are often at least partially compensated for over time.

Functional organization of vestibulospinal inputs on thoracic motoneurons responsible for trunk postural control in Xenopus.

Key Points: Vestibulospinal reflexes participate in postural control. How this is achieved has not been investigated fully. We combined electrophysiological, neuroanatomical and imaging techniques to decipher the vestibulospinal network controlling the activation of back and limb muscles responsible for postural adjustments.

Functional limb muscle innervation prior to cholinergic transmitter specification during early metamorphosis in .

In vertebrates, functional motoneurons are defined as differentiated neurons that are connected to a central premotor network and activate peripheral muscle using acetylcholine. Generally, motoneurons and muscles develop simultaneously during embryogenesis. However, during metamorphosis, developing limb motoneurons must reach their target muscles through the already established larval cholinergic axial neuromuscular system.

Generation of BAC transgenic tadpoles enabling live imaging of motoneurons by using the urotensin II-related peptide (ust2b) gene as a driver.

Xenopus is an excellent tetrapod model for studying normal and pathological motoneuron ontogeny due to its developmental morpho-physiological advantages. In mammals, the urotensin II-related peptide (UTS2B) gene is primarily expressed in motoneurons of the brainstem and the spinal cord. Here, we show that this expression pattern was conserved in Xenopus and established during the early embryonic development, starting at the early tailbud stage.

Vestibular lesion-induced developmental plasticity in spinal locomotor networks during Xenopus laevis metamorphosis.

During frog metamorphosis, the vestibular sensory system remains unchanged, while spinal motor networks undergo a massive restructuring associated with the transition from the larval to adult biomechanical system. We investigated in Xenopus laevis the impact of a pre- (tadpole stage) or post-metamorphosis (juvenile stage) unilateral labyrinthectomy (UL) on young adult swimming performance and underlying spinal locomotor circuitry. The acute disruptive effects on locomotion were similar in both tadpoles and juvenile frogs.

Spinal efference copy signaling and gaze stabilization during locomotion in juvenile Xenopus frogs.

In swimming Xenopus laevis tadpoles, gaze stabilization is achieved by efference copies of spinal locomotory CPG output that produce rhythmic extraocular motor activity appropriate for minimizing motion-derived visual disturbances. During metamorphosis, Xenopus switches its locomotory mechanism from larval tail-based undulatory movements to bilaterally synchronous hindlimb kick propulsion in the adult. The change in locomotory mode leads to body motion dynamics that no longer require conjugate left-right eye rotations for effective retinal image stabilization.

Chapter 4--supraspinal control of locomotion: the mesencephalic locomotor region.

Locomotion is a basic motor function generated and controlled by genetically defined neuronal networks. The pattern of muscle synergies is generated in the spinal cord, whereas neural centers located above the spinal cord in the brainstem and the forebrain are essential for initiating and controlling locomotor movements. One such locomotor control center in the brainstem is the mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR), first discovered in cats and later found in all vertebrate species tested to date.

A neuronal substrate for a state-dependent modulation of sensory inputs in the brainstem.

Central networks modulate sensory transmission during motor behavior. Sensory inputs may thus have distinct impacts according to the state of activity of the central networks. Using an in-vitro isolated lamprey brainstem preparation, we investigated whether a brainstem locomotor center, the mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR), modulates sensory transmission.

Opposing aminergic modulation of distinct spinal locomotor circuits and their functional coupling during amphibian metamorphosis.

The biogenic amines serotonin (5-HT) and noradrenaline (NA) are well known modulators of central pattern-generating networks responsible for vertebrate locomotion. Here we have explored monoaminergic modulation of the spinal circuits that generate two distinct modes of locomotion in the metamorphosing frog Xenopus laevis. At metamorphic climax when propulsion is achieved by undulatory larval tail movements and/or by kicking of the newly developed adult hindlimbs, the underlying motor networks remain spontaneously active in vitro, producing either separate fast axial and slow appendicular rhythms or a single combined rhythm that drives coordinated tail-based and limb-based swimming in vivo.

Metamorphosis-induced changes in the coupling of spinal thoraco-lumbar motor outputs during swimming in Xenopus laevis.

Anuran metamorphosis includes a complete remodeling of the animal's biomechanical apparatus, requiring a corresponding functional reorganization of underlying central neural circuitry. This involves changes that must occur in the coordination between the motor outputs of different spinal segments to harmonize locomotor and postural functions as the limbs grow and the tail regresses. In premetamorphic Xenopus laevis tadpoles, axial motor output drives rostrocaudally propagating segmental myotomal contractions that generate propulsive body undulations.

Initiation of locomotion in lampreys.

The spinal circuitry underlying the generation of basic locomotor synergies has been described in substantial detail in lampreys and the cellular mechanisms have been identified. The initiation of locomotion, on the other hand, relies on supraspinal networks and the cellular mechanisms involved are only beginning to be understood. This review examines some of the findings relative to the neural mechanisms involved in the initiation of locomotion of lampreys.

In vivo analysis of proprioceptive coding and its antidromic modulation in the freely behaving crayfish.

Although sensory nerves in vitro are known to convey both orthodromic (sensory) and antidromic (putatively modulating) action potentials, in most cases very little is known about their bidirectional characteristics in intact animals. Here, we have investigated both the sensory coding properties and antidromic discharges that occur during real walking in the freely behaving crayfish. The activity of the sensory nerve innervating the proprioceptor CBCO, a chordotonal organ that monitors both angular movement and position of the coxo-basipodite (CB) joint, which is implicated in vertical leg movements, was recorded chronically along with the electromyographic activity of the muscles that control CB joint movements.

Heterosynaptic metaplastic regulation of synaptic efficacy in CA1 pyramidal neurons of rat hippocampus.

The induction threshold, and the magnitude and direction of changes in synaptic plasticity may depend on the previous history of neuronal activity. This phenomenon, termed "metaplasticity," could play an important role in integration processes by coordinating the modulation of synapses. Although metaplasticity has been analyzed extensively, its underlying cellular mechanisms remain largely unknown.

Muscarinic modulation of the trigemino-reticular pathway in lampreys.

In lampreys, reticulospinal neurons integrate sensory inputs to adapt their control onto the spinal locomotor networks. Whether and how sensory inputs to reticulospinal neurons are modulated remains to be determined. We showed recently that cholinergic inputs onto reticulospinal neurons play a key role in the initiation of locomotion elicited by stimulation of the mesencephalic locomotor region in semi intact lampreys.

Nicotinic activation of reticulospinal cells involved in the control of swimming in lampreys.

In lampreys as in other vertebrates, brainstem centres play a key role in the initiation and control of locomotion. One such centre, the mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR), was identified physiologically at the mesopontine border. Descending inputs from the MLR are relayed by reticulospinal neurons in the pons and medulla, but the mechanisms by which this is carried out remain unknown.

Efferent controls in crustacean mechanoreceptors.

Since the 1960s it has been known that central neural networks can elaborate motor patterns in the absence of any sensory feedback. However, sensory and neuromodulatory inputs allow the animal to adapt the motor command to the actual mechanical configuration or changing needs. Many studies in invertebrates, particularly in crustacea, have described several mechanisms of sensory-motor integration and have shown that part of this integration was supported by the efferent control of the mechanosensory neurons themselves.