RRC ID 51290
Author Knafo S, Fidelin K, Prendergast A, Tseng PB, Parrin A, Dickey C, Böhm UL, Figueiredo SN, Thouvenin O, Pascal-Moussellard H, Wyart C.
Title Mechanosensory neurons control the timing of spinal microcircuit selection during locomotion.
Journal Elife
Abstract Despite numerous physiological studies about reflexes in the spinal cord, the contribution of mechanosensory feedback to active locomotion and the nature of underlying spinal circuits remains elusive. Here we investigate how mechanosensory feedback shapes active locomotion in a genetic model organism exhibiting simple locomotion-the zebrafish larva. We show that mechanosensory feedback enhances the recruitment of motor pools during active locomotion. Furthermore, we demonstrate that inputs from mechanosensory neurons increase locomotor speed by prolonging fast swimming at the expense of slow swimming during stereotyped acoustic escape responses. This effect could be mediated by distinct mechanosensory neurons. In the spinal cord, we show that connections compatible with monosynaptic inputs from mechanosensory Rohon-Beard neurons onto ipsilateral V2a interneurons selectively recruited at high speed can contribute to the observed enhancement of speed. Altogether, our study reveals the basic principles and a circuit diagram enabling speed modulation by mechanosensory feedback in the vertebrate spinal cord.
Volume 6
Published 2017-6-19
DOI 10.7554/eLife.25260
PII e25260
PMID 28623664
PMC PMC5499942
MeSH Animals Locomotion* Mechanoreceptors / physiology* Neural Pathways / physiology* Sensory Receptor Cells / physiology* Spinal Cord / physiology* Zebrafish
IF 7.08
Times Cited 17
Resource
Zebrafish Tg(chx10:loxp-dsRED-loxp-GFP)