小柯机器人

法国索邦大学Claire Wyart等研究人员合作发现，中脑运动区招募V2a网状脊髓神经元驱动幼体斑马鱼向前运动。相关论文于2023年9月4日在线发表在《自然—神经科学》杂志上。

研究人员表示，中脑运动区（MLR）是一个脑干区域，刺激该区域可触发分级前向运动。人们对MLR神经元如何招募下游的vsx2⁺（V2a）网状脊髓神经元（RSN）知之甚少。

为了克服这一难题，研究人员发现了透明斑马鱼幼体中的MLR位置，并证明MLR位置不同于内侧纵束核。MLR刺激能可靠地引起持续时间和频率可控的前向运动。MLR神经元通过投射到桥脑和后桥脑区域的体节以及延髓的树突招募V2a RSN。神经元活动的高速容积成像显示，强MLR耦合的RSN活跃于转向或向前游动，而弱MLR耦合的髓质RSN则编码向前部分的持续时间和频率。

这项研究证明了MLR神经元如何招募特定的V2a RSN来控制向前运动的运动学，并表明脊椎动物的V2a RSN运动功能是一致的。

附：英文原文

Title: The mesencephalic locomotor region recruits V2a reticulospinal neurons to drive forward locomotion in larval zebrafish

Author: Carbo-Tano, Martin, Lapoix, Mathilde, Jia, Xinyu, Thouvenin, Olivier, Pascucci, Marco, Auclair, Franois, Quan, Feng B., Albadri, Shahad, Aguda, Vernie, Farouj, Younes, Hillman, Elizabeth M. C., Portugues, Ruben, Del Bene, Filippo, Thiele, Tod R., Dubuc, Rjean, Wyart, Claire

Issue&Volume: 2023-09-04

Abstract: The mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR) is a brain stem area whose stimulation triggers graded forward locomotion. How MLR neurons recruit downstream vsx2+ (V2a) reticulospinal neurons (RSNs) is poorly understood. Here, to overcome this challenge, we uncovered the locus of MLR in transparent larval zebrafish and show that the MLR locus is distinct from the nucleus of the medial longitudinal fasciculus. MLR stimulations reliably elicit forward locomotion of controlled duration and frequency. MLR neurons recruit V2a RSNs via projections onto somata in pontine and retropontine areas, and onto dendrites in the medulla. High-speed volumetric imaging of neuronal activity reveals that strongly MLR-coupled RSNs are active for steering or forward swimming, whereas weakly MLR-coupled medullary RSNs encode the duration and frequency of the forward component. Our study demonstrates how MLR neurons recruit specific V2a RSNs to control the kinematics of forward locomotion and suggests conservation of the motor functions of V2a RSNs across vertebrates.

DOI: 10.1038/s41593-023-01418-0

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-023-01418-0

Nature Neuroscience：《自然—神经科学》，创刊于1998年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：28.771
官方网址：https://www.nature.com/neuro/
投稿链接：https://mts-nn.nature.com/cgi-bin/main.plex