A parallel cholinergic brainstem pathway for enhancing locomotor drive
Nat Neurosci. 2010-05-16; 13(6): 731-738
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2548
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1. Nat Neurosci. 2010 Jun;13(6):731-8. doi: 10.1038/nn.2548. Epub 2010 May 16.
A parallel cholinergic brainstem pathway for enhancing locomotor drive.
Smetana R(1), Juvin L, Dubuc R, Alford S.
Author information:
(1)Department of Biological Sciences and Laboratory in Neurobiology, University
of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Comment in
Nat Neurosci. 2010 Jun;13(6):659-60.
The brainstem locomotor system is believed to be organized serially from the
mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR) to reticulospinal neurons, which in turn
project to locomotor neurons in the spinal cord. We identified brainstem
muscarinoceptive neurons in lampreys (Petromyzon marinus) that received parallel
inputs from the MLR and projected back to reticulospinal cells to amplify and
extend the duration of locomotor output. These cells responded to muscarine with
extended periods of excitation, received direct muscarinic excitation from the
MLR and projected glutamatergic excitation to reticulospinal neurons. Targeted
blockade of muscarine receptors over these neurons profoundly reduced MLR-induced
excitation of reticulospinal neurons and markedly slowed MLR-evoked locomotion.
The presence of these neurons forces us to rethink the organization of
supraspinal locomotor control, to include a sustained feedforward loop that
boosts locomotor output.
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2548
PMCID: PMC2881475
PMID: 20473293 [Indexed for MEDLINE]