Locust local nonspiking interneurons which tonically drive antagonistic motor neurons: Physiology, morphology, and ultrastructure

1982 ◽  
Vol 204 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Wilson ◽  
Christine E. Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Motor Neurons ◽  
Nonspiking Interneurons

Sustained membrane potential change of uropod motor neurons during the fictive abdominal posture movement in crayfish

1986 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 702-717 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Takahata ◽  
M. Hisada
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Potential ◽  
Motor Neurons ◽  
Membrane Resistance ◽  
Potential Change ◽  
Quiescent State ◽  
Membrane Potential Change ◽  
Synaptic Potentials ◽  
Nonspiking Interneurons ◽  
Body Rolling ◽  
Dendritic Branches

The occurrence of the uropod steering response as one of the equilibrium reflexes to body rolling in crayfish is significantly facilitated if the stimulus is given while the animal is performing the abdominal posture movement. This facilitation of the descending statocyst pathway by the abdominal posture system takes place between the uropod motor neurons and the statocyst interneurons, which directly project from the brain to the terminal abdominal ganglion where the motor neurons originate. To elucidate the synaptic mechanisms underlying the postural facilitation of the steering response, we analyzed in this study the activity of an identified set of uropod motor neurons during the fictive abdominal extension movement in the whole-animal preparation. Intracellular recordings from the dendritic branches of uropod motor neurons revealed that they were continuously excited during the fictive abdominal extension. The large fast motor neurons usually showed a sustained depolarization of the subthreshold magnitude. The small slow ones showed a suprathreshold sustained depolarization with spikes superimposed. Putative inhibitory motor neurons, on the other hand, showed a sustained hyperpolarization with their spontaneous spike discharge suppressed. The discrete synaptic potentials could hardly be distinguished and, instead, small fluctuations of the membrane potential were observed during the sustained depolarization of both the fast and slow motor neurons. Occasionally, large discrete synaptic potentials could be observed to be superimposed on the sustained depolarization. The occurring frequency of these synaptic potentials showed, however, no significant increase associated with the sustained depolarization. It hence seemed unlikely that these potentials were responsible for producing the sustained depolarization. Their amplitude during the sustained depolarization was smaller than that observed during the quiescent state. The sustained membrane potential change during the fictive abdominal movement was also observed in many neurons other than motor neurons, including local nonspiking interneurons and mechanosensory spiking interneurons. Both motor neurons and interneurons showed a decrease in their membrane resistance during the sustained membrane potential change. We concluded that the sustained depolarization of uropod motor neurons during the fictive abdominal extension was produced by the summation of small chemically transmitted postsynaptic potentials.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)

scholarly journals GABA-like immunoreactivity in nonspiking interneurons of the locust metathoracic ganglion

2002 ◽  
Vol 205 (23) ◽  
pp. 3651-3659 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Wildman ◽  
S. R. Ott ◽  
M. Burrows
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Potential ◽  
Motor Neurons ◽  
Lucifer Yellow ◽  
Current Injection ◽  
Aminobutyric Acid ◽  
Homogeneous Population ◽  
Metathoracic Ganglion ◽  
Nonspiking Interneurons ◽  
Intracellular Microelectrodes ◽  
Gaba Immunohistochemistry

SUMMARYNonspiking interneurons are important components of the premotor circuitry in the thoracic ganglia of insects. Their action on postsynaptic neurons appears to be predominantly inhibitory, but it is not known which transmitter(s) they use. Here, we demonstrate that many but not all nonspiking local interneurons in the locust metathoracic ganglion are immunopositive for GABA (γ-aminobutyric acid). Interneurons were impaled with intracellular microelectrodes and were shown physiologically to be nonspiking. They were further characterized by defining their effects on known leg motor neurons when their membrane potential was manipulated by current injection. Lucifer Yellow was then injected into these interneurons to reveal their cell bodies and the morphology of their branches. Some could be recognised as individuals by comparison with previous detailed descriptions. Ganglia were then processed for GABA immunohistochemistry. Fifteen of the 17 nonspiking interneurons studied were immunopositive for GABA, but two were not. The results suggest that the majority of these interneurons might exert their well-characterized effects on other neurons through the release of GABA but that some appear to use a transmitter other than GABA. These nonspiking interneurons are therefore not an homogeneous population with regard to their putative transmitter.

Cooperative Mechanisms Between Leg Joints of Carausius morosusI. Nonspiking Interneurons That Contribute to Interjoint Coordination

1998 ◽  
Vol 79 (6) ◽  
pp. 2964-2976 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis E. Brunn
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Potential ◽  
Motor Neuron ◽  
Motor Neurons ◽  
Stick Insect ◽  
Interjoint Coordination ◽  
Antagonistic Muscle ◽  
Nonspiking Interneurons ◽  
Active Motor ◽  
Thoracic Part ◽  
Depressor Muscle

Brunn, Dennis E. Cooperative mechanisms between leg joints of Carausius morosus. I. Nonspiking interneurons that contribute to interjoint coordination. J. Neurophysiol. 79: 2964–2976, 1998. Three nonspiking interneurons are described in this paper that influence the activity of the motor neurons of three muscles of the proximal leg joints of the stick insect. Interneurons were recorded and stained intracellularly by glass microelectrodes; motor neurons were recorded extracellularly with oil-hook electrodes. The motor neurons innervate the two subcoxal muscles, the protractor and retractor coxae, and the thoracic part of the depressor trochanteris muscle. The latter spans the subcoxal joint before inserting the trochanter, thus coupling the two proximal joints mechanically. The three interneurons are briefly described here. First, interneuron NS 1 was known to become more excited during the swing phase of the rear and the stance phase of the middle leg. When depolarized it excited several motor neurons of the retractor coxae. This investigation revealed that it inhibits the activity of protractor and thoracic depressor motor neurons when depolarized as well. In a pilocarpine-activated animal, the membrane potential showed oscillations in phase with the activity of protractor motor neurons, suggesting that NS 1 might contribute to the transition from swing to stance movement. Second, interneuron NS 2 inhibits motor neurons of protractor and thoracic depressor when depolarized. In both a quiescent and a pilocarpine-activated animal, hyperpolarizing stimuli excite motor neurons of both muscles via disinhibition. In one active animal the disinhibiting stimuli were sufficient to generate swing-like movements of the leg. In pilocarpine-activated preparations the membrane potential oscillated in correlation with the motor neuronal activity of the protractor coxae and thoracic depressor muscle. Hyperpolarizing stimuli induced or reinforced the protractor and thoracic depressor bursts and inhibited the activity of the motor neurons of the retractor coxae muscle, the antagonistic muscle of the protractor. Therefore interneuron NS 2 can be regarded as an important premotor interneuron for the switching from stance to swing and from swing to stance. Finally, interneuron NS 3 inhibits the spontaneously active motor neurons of both motor neuron pools in the quiescent animal. During pilocarpine-induced protractor bursts, depolarizing stimuli applied to the interneuron excited several protractor motor neurons with large action potentials and one motor neuron of the thoracic depressor. No oscillations of the membrane potentials were observed. Therefore this interneuron might contribute to the generation of rapid leg movements. The results demonstrated that the two proximal joints are coupled not only mechanically but also neurally and that the thoracic part of the depressor appears to function as a part of the swing-generating system.

Local nonspiking interneurons involved in gating of the descending motor pathway in crayfish

1986 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 718-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Takahata ◽  
M. Hisada
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Potential ◽  
Motor Neuron ◽  
Motor Neurons ◽  
Potential Change ◽  
Neuron Activity ◽  
Membrane Potential Change ◽  
Motor Pathway ◽  
Terminal Ganglion ◽  
Nonspiking Interneurons ◽  
Abdominal Movement

Uropod motor neurons in the terminal abdominal ganglion of crayfish are continuously excited during the abdominal posture movement so that subthreshold excitatory postsynaptic potentials from the descending statocyst pathway can elicit spike activity in the motor neurons only while the abdominal posture system is in operation. Local nonspiking interneurons in the terminal ganglion were also found to show sustained membrane potential change during the fictive abdominal posture movement. Artificial membrane potential change of these interneurons by intracellular current injection in the same direction as that actually observed during the abdominal movement caused similar excitation of uropod motor neurons. Artificial cancellation of the membrane potential change of these interneurons during the abdominal movement also caused cancellation of the excitation of uropod motor neurons. We concluded that the continuous excitation of uropod motor neurons during the fictive abdominal movement was mediated, at least partly, by the local nonspiking interneurons. Fourteen (36%) out of 39 examined nonspiking interneurons were judged to be involved in the excitation of uropod motor neurons during the fictive abdominal movement. Another 25 interneurons (64%) were found not to be involved in the excitation of motor neurons, although most of them had a strong effect on the uropod motor neuron activity when their membrane potential was changed artificially. The interneurons that were involved in the excitation of motor neurons during the abdominal movement included both of the two major structural types of nonspiking interneurons in the terminal ganglion, i.e., those in the anterolateral portion and those in the posterolateral portion. No strict correlation was found between the structure of nonspiking interneurons and their function in the control of uropod motor neuron activity.

Distributed Processing of Load and Movement Feedback in the Premotor Network Controlling an Insect Leg Joint

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Corinna Gebehart ◽  
Joachim Schmidt ◽  
Ansgar Büschges
Keyword(s):  
Motor Neurons ◽  
Network Architecture ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Distributed Processing ◽  
Chordotonal Organ ◽  
Limb Loading ◽  
Nonspiking Interneurons ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
Posture Maintenance ◽  
Stimulus Modalities

In legged animals integration of information from various proprioceptors in and on the appendages by local premotor networks in the central nervous system is crucial for controlling motor output. To ensure posture maintenance and precise active movements, information about limb loading and movement is required. In insects, various groups of campaniform sensilla (CS) measure forces and loads acting in different directions on the leg, and the femoral chordotonal organ (fCO) provides information about movement of the femur-tibia (FTi) joint. In this study, we used extra- and intracellular recordings of extensor tibiae (ExtTi) and retractor coxae (RetCx) motor neurons (MNs) and identified local premotor nonspiking interneurons (NSIs), and mechanical stimulation of the fCO and tibial or trochanterofemoral CS (tiCS, tr/fCS), to investigate the premotor network architecture underlying multimodal proprioceptive integration. We found that load feedback from tiCS altered the strength of movement-elicited resistance reflexes and determined the specificity of ExtTi and RetCx MN responses to various load and movement stimuli. These responses were mediated by a common population of identified NSIs into which synaptic inputs from the fCO, tiCS, and tr/fCS are distributed, and whose effects onto ExtTi MNs can be antagonistic for both stimulus modalities. Multimodal sensory signal interaction was found at the level of single NSIs and MNs. The results provide evidence that load and movement feedback are integrated in a multimodal, distributed local premotor network consisting of antagonistic elements controlling movements of the FTi joint, thus substantially extending current knowledge on how legged motor systems achieve fine-tuned motor control.

scholarly journals Five types of nonspiking interneurons in local pattern-generating circuits of the crayfish swimmeret system

2013 ◽  
Vol 110 (2) ◽  
pp. 344-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Smarandache-Wellmann ◽  
Cynthia Weller ◽  
Terrence M. Wright ◽  
Brian Mulloney
Keyword(s):  
Motor Neurons ◽  
Single Copy ◽  
Power Stroke ◽  
Return Stroke ◽  
Local Pattern ◽  
Local Circuit ◽  
Physiological Properties ◽  
Functional Classes ◽  
Nonspiking Interneurons ◽  
Confocal Images

We conducted a quantitative analysis of the different nonspiking interneurons in the local pattern-generating circuits of the crayfish swimmeret system. Within each local circuit, these interneurons control the firing of the power-stroke and return-stroke motor neurons that drive swimmeret movements. Fifty-four of these interneurons were identified during physiological experiments with sharp microelectrodes and filled with dextran Texas red, Neurobiotin, or both. Five types of neurons were identified on the basis of combinations of physiological and anatomical characteristics. Anatomical categories were based on 16 anatomical parameters measured from stacks of confocal images obtained from each neuron. The results support the recognition of two functional classes: inhibitors of power stroke (IPS) and inhibitors of return stroke (IRS). The IPS class of interneuron has three morphological types with similar physiological properties. The IRS class has two morphological types with physiological properties and anatomical features different from the IPS neurons but similar within the class. Three of these five types have not been previously identified. Reviewing the evidence for dye coupling within each type, we conclude that each type of IPS neuron and one type of IRS neuron occur as a single copy in each local pattern-generating circuit. The last IRS type includes neurons that might occur as a dye-coupled pair in each local circuit. Recognition of these different interneurons in the swimmeret pattern-generating circuits leads to a refined model of the local pattern-generating circuit that includes synaptic connections that encode and decode information required for intersegmental coordination of swimmeret movements.

Androgen-induced plasticity at a “vocal” neuromuscular synapse

1994 ◽  
Vol 52 ◽  
pp. 32-33
Author(s):  
Darcy B. Kelley ◽  
Martha L. Tobias ◽  
Mark Ellisman
Keyword(s):  
Xenopus Laevis ◽  
Motor Neurons ◽  
Sexual Differentiation ◽  
Molecular Basis ◽  
Neuromuscular Synapse ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Intracellular Protein ◽  
Developmental Program ◽  
Androgen Action ◽  
Clawed Frog

Brain and muscle are sexually differentiated tissues in which masculinization is controlled by the secretion of androgens from the testes. Sensitivity to androgen is conferred by the expression of an intracellular protein, the androgen receptor. A central problem of sexual differentiation is thus to understand the cellular and molecular basis of androgen action. We do not understand how hormone occupancy of a receptor translates into an alteration in the developmental program of the target cell. Our studies on sexual differentiation of brain and muscle in Xenopus laevis are designed to explore the molecular basis of androgen induced sexual differentiation by examining how this hormone controls the masculinization of brain and muscle targets.Our approach to this problem has focused on a highly androgen sensitive, sexually dimorphic neuromuscular system: laryngeal muscles and motor neurons of the clawed frog, Xenopus laevis. We have been studying sex differences at a synapse, the laryngeal neuromuscular junction, which mediates sexually dimorphic vocal behavior in Xenopus laevis frogs.

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