Entrainment of leech swimming activity by the ventral stretch receptor

Journal of Comparative Physiology. A, Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology
Xintian Yu, W Otto Friesen

Abstract

Rhythmic animal movements originate in CNS oscillator circuits; however, sensory inputs play an important role in shaping motor output. Our recent studies demonstrated that leeches with severed nerve cords swim with excellent coordination between the two ends, indicating that sensory inputs are sufficient for maintaining intersegmental coordination. In this study, we examined the neuronal substrates that underlie intersegmental coordination via sensory mechanisms. Among the identified sensory neurons in the leech, we found the ventral stretch receptor (VSR) to be the best candidate for our study because of its sensitivity to tension in longitudinal muscle. Our experiments demonstrate that (1) the membrane potential of the VSR is depolarized during swimming and oscillates with an amplitude of 1.5-5.0 mV, (2) rhythmic currents injected into the VSR can entrain ongoing swimming over a large frequency range (0.9-1.8 Hz), and (3) large current pulses injected into the VSR shift the phase of the swimming rhythm. These results suggest that VSRs play an important role in generating and modulating the swim rhythm. We propose that coordinated swimming in leech preparations with severed nerve cords results from mutual entrainment between ...Continue Reading

Citations

May 27, 2010·Journal of Mathematical Biology·Joseph P PreviteEric D Tytell
Feb 26, 2008·Journal of Comparative Physiology. A, Neuroethology, Sensory, Neural, and Behavioral Physiology·Karen A MesceWilliam B Kristan
Sep 19, 2012·Integrative and Comparative Biology·Laura A MillerSilas Alben
Feb 15, 2012·Neural Systems & Circuits·Damon G Lamb, Ronald L Calabrese
Jul 28, 2010·The Journal of Neuroscience : the Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience·Quentin Gaudry, William B Kristan
Nov 2, 2005·Progress in Neurobiology·William B KristanW Otto Friesen
Nov 26, 2010·Progress in Neurobiology·Olivia J MullinsW Otto Friesen
Mar 15, 2008·Current Opinion in Neurobiology·W Otto Friesen, William B Kristan
Jan 24, 2018·ELife·Anthony D FouadChristopher Fang-Yen
Apr 25, 2018·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Tianqi XuQuan Wen

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Ataxias (MDS)

Ataxia is a neurological condition characterized by lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements including loss of coordination, balance, and speech. Discover the latest research on ataxia here.

Ataxia

Ataxia is a neurological condition characterized by lack of voluntary coordination of muscle movements including loss of coordination, balance, and speech. Discover the latest research on ataxia here.

© 2021 Meta ULC. All rights reserved