One of the primary goals of studies of the motor systems of vertebrates is to understand how the central nervous system controls the activation of motoneurons to generate different motor behaviors. The networks underlying motor behaviors are most easily studied in fish and amphibians because of the smaller number and larger size of their neurons relative to those in mammals. The proposed experiments are designed to examine the spinal circuitry that controls different populations of axial motoneurons during two very different motor behaviors in goldfish - escapes initiated by the Mauthner cell and normal swimming. Intracellular recording and HRP staining techniques will be used to: 1) examine the output connections of identified interneurons in the spinal network of the M-cell. These data will provide essential information about the role of identified interneurons in the network of a well defined vertebrate motor behavior. 2) determine what neurons are polysynaptically activity by the M- cell. These data will permit a detailed comparison between the activation of motoneurons and interneurons by the M-cell network and the swimming network. 3) determine what spinal interneurons and motoneurons are active during fictive swimming in goldfish, as a basis for comparison with both the M-cell network and the spinal network for swimming on other vertebrates. 4) determine directly what synaptic inputs individual interneurons receive from both networks to evaluate the extent to which spinal interneurons are shared by the two. 5) examine interactions between the swimming and M-cell networks by eliciting a M-cell initiated escape during fictive swimming episode. These experiments will provide basic information about the central mechanisms for controlling the activation of axial motoneurons in goldfish. Because previous work indicates broad similarities in the organization of spinal motor systems in vertebrates, the results are likely to provide general insights into mechanisms for control of motoneurons in vertebrates, including humans.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
Type
First Independent Research Support & Transition (FIRST) Awards (R29)
Project #
5R29NS026539-05
Application #
3477556
Study Section
Neurology B Subcommittee 2 (NEUB)
Project Start
1990-07-01
Project End
1994-03-31
Budget Start
1992-07-01
Budget End
1994-03-31
Support Year
5
Fiscal Year
1992
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
State University New York Stony Brook
Department
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
804878247
City
Stony Brook
State
NY
Country
United States
Zip Code
11794
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Kinkhabwala, Amina; Riley, Michael; Koyama, Minoru et al. (2011) A structural and functional ground plan for neurons in the hindbrain of zebrafish. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 108:1164-9
Liao, James C (2010) Organization and physiology of posterior lateral line afferent neurons in larval zebrafish. Biol Lett 6:402-5
McLean, David L; Fetcho, Joseph R (2009) Spinal interneurons differentiate sequentially from those driving the fastest swimming movements in larval zebrafish to those driving the slowest ones. J Neurosci 29:13566-77