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Separate Microcircuit Modules of Distinct V2a Interneurons and Motoneurons Control the Speed of Locomotion
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Separate Microcircuit Modules of Distinct V2a Interneurons and Motoneurons Control the Speed of Locomotion

Konstantinos Ampatzis, Jianren Song, Jessica Ausborn and Abdeljabbar El Manira
Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.), v 83(4), pp 934-943
20 Aug 2014
PMID: 25123308
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2014.07.018View
Published, Version of Record (VoR)Open Access (Publisher-Specific) Open

Abstract

Life Sciences & Biomedicine Neurosciences Neurosciences & Neurology Science & Technology
Spinal circuits generate locomotion with variable speed as circumstances demand. These circuits have been assumed to convey equal and uniform excitation to all motoneurons whose input resistance dictates their activation sequence. However, the precise connectivity pattern between excitatory pre-motor circuits and the different motoneuron types has remained unclear. Here, we generate a connectivity map in adult zebrafish between the V2a excitatory interneurons and slow, intermediate, and fast motoneurons. We show that the locomotor network does not consist of a uniform circuit as previously assumed. Instead, it can be deconstructed into three separate microcircuit modules with distinct V2a interneuron subclasses driving slow, intermediate, or fast motoneurons. This modular design enables the increase of locomotor speed by sequentially adding microcircuit layers from slow to intermediate and fast. Thus, this principle of organization of vertebrate spinal circuits represents an intrinsic mechanism to increase the locomotor speed by incrementally engaging different motor units.

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