Journal article
Sensorimotor processing in the newborn rat red nucleus during active sleep
The Journal of neuroscience, Vol.35(21), pp.8322-8332
05/27/2015
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0564-15.2015
PMCID: PMC4444549
PMID: 26019345
Abstract
Sensory feedback from sleep-related myoclonic twitches is thought to drive activity-dependent development in spinal cord and brain. However, little is known about the neural pathways involved in the generation of twitches early in development. The red nucleus (RN), source of the rubrospinal tract, has been implicated in the production of phasic motor activity during active sleep in adults. Here we hypothesized that the RN is also a major source of motor output for twitching in early infancy, a period when twitching is an especially abundant motor behavior. We recorded extracellular neural activity in the RN during sleep and wakefulness in 1-week-old unanesthetized rats. Neurons in the RN fired phasically before twitching and wake movements of the contralateral forelimb. A subpopulation of neurons in the RN exhibited a significant peak of activity after forelimb movement onset, suggesting reafferent sensory processing. Consistent with this observation, manual stimulation of the forelimb evoked RN responses. Unilateral inactivation of the RN using a mixture comprising GABAA, GABAB, and glycine receptor agonists caused an immediate and temporary increase in motor activity followed by a marked and prolonged decrease in twitching and wake movements. Altogether, these data support a causal role for the RN in infant motor behavior. Furthermore, they indicate that twitching, which is characterized by discrete motor output and reafferent input, provides an opportunity for sensorimotor integration and activity-dependent development of topography within the newborn RN.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Sensorimotor processing in the newborn rat red nucleus during active sleep
- Creators
- Carlos Del Rio-Bermudez - Department of Psychology andGreta Sokoloff - Department of Psychology andMark S Blumberg - Department of Psychology and Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242 mark-blumberg@uiowa.edu
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- The Journal of neuroscience, Vol.35(21), pp.8322-8332
- Publisher
- United States
- DOI
- 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0564-15.2015
- PMID
- 26019345
- PMCID
- PMC4444549
- ISSN
- 0270-6474
- eISSN
- 1529-2401
- Grant note
- R01 HD063071 / NICHD NIH HHS R01-HD063071 / NICHD NIH HHS R37 HD081168 / NICHD NIH HHS R37-HD081168 / NICHD NIH HHS
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 05/27/2015
- Academic Unit
- Psychological and Brain Sciences; Iowa Neuroscience Institute; Biology
- Record Identifier
- 9984070368302771
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