scholarly journals Neural circuitry for maternal oxytocin release induced by infant cries

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvana Valtcheva ◽  
Habon A. Issa ◽  
Kathleen A. Martin ◽  
Kanghoon Jung ◽  
Hyung-Bae Kwon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Brain State ◽  
Auditory Information ◽  
Thalamic Stimulation ◽  
Infant Vocalizations ◽  
Electrophysiological Recordings ◽  
Intralaminar Thalamus ◽  
Oxytocin Release ◽  
Infant Cries

SummaryOxytocin is a neuropeptide important for maternal physiology and childcare, including parturition and milk ejection during nursing. Suckling triggers oxytocin release, but other sensory cues- specifically infant cries- can elevate oxytocin levels in new human mothers, indicating that cries can activate hypothalamic oxytocin neurons. Here we describe a neural circuit routing auditory information about infant vocalizations to the oxytocin system of the mouse brain. We performed in vivo electrophysiological recordings and photometry from identified oxytocin neurons in awake maternal mice presented with pup calls. We found that oxytocin neurons responded to pup vocalizations via input from the posterior intralaminar thalamus, and repetitive thalamic stimulation induced lasting disinhibition of oxytocin neurons. Suppression of this pathway impaired maternal behavior and playing pup calls led to central oxytocin release in vivo. This circuit provides a mechanism for transforming acoustic input into hormonal output to ensure modulation of brain state required for successful parenting.

scholarly journals 0074 Inhibitory Neurons in the Dorsomedial Medulla Promote REM Sleep

SLEEP ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. A30-A30
Author(s):  
J Stucynski ◽  
A Schott ◽  
J Baik ◽  
J Hong ◽  
F Weber ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rem Sleep ◽  
Nrem Sleep ◽  
Inhibitory Neurons ◽  
Brain State ◽  
Sleep Regulation ◽  
Optogenetic Stimulation ◽  
Electrophysiological Recordings ◽  
Stimulation Of

Abstract Introduction The neural circuits controlling rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and in particular the role of the medulla in regulating this brain state, remains an active area of study. Previous electrophysiological recordings in the dorsomedial medulla (DM) and electrical stimulation experiments suggested an important role of this area in the control of REM sleep. However the identity of the involved neurons and their precise role in REM sleep regulation are still unclear. Methods The properties of DM GAD2 neurons in mice were investigated through stereotaxic injection of CRE-dependent viruses in conjunction with implantation of electrodes for electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyogram (EMG) recordings and optic fibers. Experiments included in vivo calcium imaging (fiber photometry) across sleep and wake states, optogenetic stimulation of cell bodies, chemogenetic excitation and suppression (DREADDs), and connectivity mapping using viral tracing and optogenetics. Results Imaging the calcium activity of DM GAD2 neurons in vivo indicates that these neurons are most active during REM sleep. Optogenetic stimulation of DM GAD2 neurons reliably triggered transitions into REM sleep from NREM sleep. Consistent with this, chemogenetic activation of DM GAD2 neurons increased the amount of REM sleep while inhibition suppressed its occurrence and enhanced NREM sleep. Anatomical tracing revealed that DM GAD2 neurons project to several areas involved in sleep / wake regulation including the wake-promoting locus coeruleus (LC) and the REM sleep-suppressing ventrolateral periaquaductal gray (vlPAG). Optogenetic activation of axonal projections from DM to LC, and DM to vlPAG was sufficient to induce REM sleep. Conclusion These experiments demonstrate that DM inhibitory neurons expressing GAD2 powerfully promote initiation of REM sleep in mice. These findings further characterize the dorsomedial medulla as a critical structure involved in REM sleep regulation and inform future investigations of the REM sleep circuitry. Support R01 HL149133

scholarly journals A VTA GABAergic neural circuit mediates visually evoked innate defensive responses

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zheng Zhou ◽  
Xuemei Liu ◽  
Shanping Chen ◽  
Zhijian Zhang ◽  
Yu-anming Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Information ◽  
Defensive Behavior ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Flight Behavior ◽  
Central Nucleus ◽  
General Role ◽  
Defensive Responses ◽  
Electrophysiological Recordings

SUMMARYInnate defensive responses are essential for animal survival and are conserved across species. The ventral tegmental area (VTA) plays important roles in learned appetitive and aversive behaviors, but whether it plays a role in mediating or modulating innate defensive responses is currently unknown. We report that GABAergic neurons in the mouse VTA (VTAGABA+) are preferentially activated compared to VTA dopaminergic (VTADA+) neurons when a threatening visual stimulus evokes innate defensive behavior. Functional manipulation of these neurons showed that activation of VTAGABA+ neurons is indispensable for looming-evoked defensive flight behavior and photoactivation of these neurons is sufficient for looming-evoked defensive-like flight behavior, whereas no such role can be attributed for VTADA+ neurons. Viral tracing and in vivo and in vitro electrophysiological recordings showed that VTAGABA+ neurons receive direct excitatory inputs from the superior colliculus (SC). Furthermore, we showed that glutamatergic SC-VTA projections synapse onto VTAGABA+ neurons that project to the central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) and that the CeA is involved in mediating the defensive behavior. Our findings demonstrate that visual information about aerial threats access to the VTAGABA+ neurons mediating innate behavioral responses, suggesting a more general role for the VTA.

scholarly journals Neural and genetic degeneracy underlies Caenorhabditis elegans feeding behavior

2014 ◽  
Vol 112 (4) ◽  
pp. 951-961 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas F. Trojanowski ◽  
Olivia Padovan-Merhar ◽  
David M. Raizen ◽  
Christopher Fang-Yen
Keyword(s):  
Caenorhabditis Elegans ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
State Dependent ◽  
Excitatory Pathways ◽  
Genetic Mechanisms ◽  
Genetic Level ◽  
Pharyngeal Pumping ◽  
Robust Network

Degenerate networks, in which structurally distinct elements can perform the same function or yield the same output, are ubiquitous in biology. Degeneracy contributes to the robustness and adaptability of networks in varied environmental and evolutionary contexts. However, how degenerate neural networks regulate behavior in vivo is poorly understood, especially at the genetic level. Here, we identify degenerate neural and genetic mechanisms that underlie excitation of the pharynx (feeding organ) in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans using cell-specific optogenetic excitation and inhibition. We show that the pharyngeal neurons MC, M2, M4, and I1 form multiple direct and indirect excitatory pathways in a robust network for control of pharyngeal pumping. I1 excites pumping via MC and M2 in a state-dependent manner. We identify nicotinic and muscarinic receptors through which the pharyngeal network regulates feeding rate. These results identify two different mechanisms by which degeneracy is manifest in a neural circuit in vivo.

scholarly journals Signal-to-noise ratio in the membrane potential of the owl's auditory coincidence detectors

2012 ◽  
Vol 108 (10) ◽  
pp. 2837-2845 ◽  
Author(s):  
Go Ashida ◽  
Kazuo Funabiki ◽  
Paula T. Kuokkanen ◽  
Richard Kempter ◽  
Catherine E. Carr
Keyword(s):  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Signal To Noise Ratio ◽  
Phase Locking ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Membrane Potentials ◽  
Signal To Noise ◽  
Theoretical Predictions ◽  
Noise Ratio ◽  
Band Limited

Owls use interaural time differences (ITDs) to locate a sound source. They compute ITD in a specialized neural circuit that consists of axonal delay lines from the cochlear nucleus magnocellularis (NM) and coincidence detectors in the nucleus laminaris (NL). Recent physiological recordings have shown that tonal stimuli induce oscillatory membrane potentials in NL neurons (Funabiki K, Ashida G, Konishi M. J Neurosci 31: 15245–15256, 2011). The amplitude of these oscillations varies with ITD and is strongly correlated to the firing rate. The oscillation, termed the sound analog potential, has the same frequency as the stimulus tone and is presumed to originate from phase-locked synaptic inputs from NM fibers. To investigate how these oscillatory membrane potentials are generated, we applied recently developed signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) analysis techniques (Kuokkanen PT, Wagner H, Ashida G, Carr CE, Kempter R. J Neurophysiol 104: 2274–2290, 2010) to the intracellular waveforms obtained in vivo. Our theoretical prediction of the band-limited SNRs agreed with experimental data for mid- to high-frequency (>2 kHz) NL neurons. For low-frequency (≤2 kHz) NL neurons, however, measured SNRs were lower than theoretical predictions. These results suggest that the number of independent NM fibers converging onto each NL neuron and/or the population-averaged degree of phase-locking of the NM fibers could be significantly smaller in the low-frequency NL region than estimated for higher best-frequency NL.

scholarly journals Oscillatory integration windows in neurons

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nitin Gupta ◽  
Swikriti Saran Singh ◽  
Mark Stopfer
Keyword(s):  
Neural Circuits ◽  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Field Potential ◽  
Coincidence Detection ◽  
Uniform Structure ◽  
Detection Mechanism ◽  
Oscillation Frequencies ◽  
Local Field Potential Lfp ◽  
Oscillatory Cycle

AbstractOscillatory synchrony among neurons occurs in many species and brain areas, and has been proposed to help neural circuits process information. One hypothesis states that oscillatory input creates cyclic integration windows: specific times in each oscillatory cycle when postsynaptic neurons become especially responsive to inputs. With paired local field potential (LFP) and intracellular recordings and controlled stimulus manipulations we directly tested this idea in the locust olfactory system. We found that inputs arriving in Kenyon cells (KCs) sum most effectively in a preferred window of the oscillation cycle. With a computational model, we found that the non-uniform structure of noise in the membrane potential helps mediate this process. Further experiments performed in vivo demonstrated that integration windows can form in the absence of inhibition and at a broad range of oscillation frequencies. Our results reveal how a fundamental coincidence-detection mechanism in a neural circuit functions to decode temporally organized spiking.

scholarly journals Traumatic brain injury to primary visual cortex produces long-lasting circuit dysfunction

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan C. Frankowski ◽  
Andrzej T. Foik ◽  
Alexa Tierno ◽  
Jiana R. Machhor ◽  
David C. Lyon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Brain Injury ◽  
Visual Cortex ◽  
Brain Injury ◽  
Primary Visual Cortex ◽  
Visual Stimuli ◽  
Orientation Tuning ◽  
V1 Neurons ◽  
Adult Mice ◽  
Electrophysiological Recordings

AbstractPrimary sensory areas of the mammalian neocortex have a remarkable degree of plasticity, allowing neural circuits to adapt to dynamic environments. However, little is known about the effects of traumatic brain injury on visual circuit function. Here we used anatomy and in vivo electrophysiological recordings in adult mice to quantify neuron responses to visual stimuli two weeks and three months after mild controlled cortical impact injury to primary visual cortex (V1). We found that, although V1 remained largely intact in brain-injured mice, there was ~35% reduction in the number of neurons that affected inhibitory cells more broadly than excitatory neurons. V1 neurons showed dramatically reduced activity, impaired responses to visual stimuli and weaker size selectivity and orientation tuning in vivo. Our results show a single, mild contusion injury produces profound and long-lasting impairments in the way V1 neurons encode visual input. These findings provide initial insight into cortical circuit dysfunction following central visual system neurotrauma.

scholarly journals Functional topography of auditory areas derived from the combination of electrophysiological recordings and cortical electrical stimulation.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnès Trébuchon ◽  
F.-Xavier Alario ◽  
Catherine Liégeois-Chauvel
Keyword(s):  
Language Processing ◽  
Hemispheric Specialization ◽  
Functional Characterization ◽  
Posterior Part ◽  
Epileptic Seizures ◽  
Superior Temporal Gyrus ◽  
Time Frequency ◽  
Depth Electrodes ◽  
Electrophysiological Recordings

The posterior part of the superior temporal gyrus (STG) has long been known to be a crucial hub for auditory and language processing, at the crossroad of the functionally defined ventral and dorsal pathways. Anatomical studies have shown that this “auditory cortex” is composed of several cytoarchitectonic areas whose limits do not consistently match macro-anatomic landmarks like gyral and sulcal borders. The functional characterization of these areas derived from brain imaging studies has some limitations, even when high field functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is used, because of the variability observed in the extension of these areas between hemispheres and individuals. In patients implanted with depth electrodes, in vivo recordings and direct electrical stimulations of the different sub-parts of the posterior STG allow to delineate different auditory sub-fields in Heschl’s gyrus (HG), Planum Temporale (PT), the posterior part of the superior temporal gyrus anterior to HG, the posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS), and the region at the parietal-temporal boundary commonly labelled “Spt”. We describe how this delineation can be achieved using data from electrical cortical stimulation combined with local field potentials and time frequency analysis recorded as responses to pure tones and syllables. We show the differences in functional roles between the primary and non-primary auditory areas, in the left and the right hemispheres. We discuss how these findings help understanding the auditory semiology of certain epileptic seizures and, more generally, the neural substrate of hemispheric specialization for language.

Ex Vivo Brain Preparation to Analyze Vocal Pathways of Xenopus Frogs

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (9) ◽  
pp. pdb.prot106872
Author(s):  
Ayako Yamaguchi
Keyword(s):  
Neural Activity ◽  
Ex Vivo ◽  
Neural Circuitry ◽  
Neural Basis ◽  
Vocal Production ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Electrophysiological Recordings ◽  
The Brain

Understanding the neural basis of behavior is a challenging task for technical reasons. Most methods of recording neural activity require animals to be immobilized, but neural activity associated with most behavior cannot be recorded from an anesthetized, immobilized animal. Using amphibians, however, there has been some success in developing in vitro brain preparations that can be used for electrophysiological and anatomical studies. Here, we describe an ex vivo frog brain preparation from which fictive vocalizations (the neural activity that would have produced vocalizations had the brain been attached to the muscle) can be elicited repeatedly. When serotonin is applied to the isolated brains of male and female African clawed frogs, Xenopus laevis, laryngeal nerve activity that is a facsimile of those that underlie sex-specific vocalizations in vivo can be readily recorded. Recently, this preparation was successfully used in other species within the genus including Xenopus tropicalis and Xenopus victorianus. This preparation allows a variety of techniques to be applied including extracellular and intracellular electrophysiological recordings and calcium imaging during vocal production, surgical and pharmacological manipulation of neurons to evaluate their impact on motor output, and tract tracing of the neural circuitry. Thus, the preparation is a powerful tool with which to understand the basic principles that govern the production of coherent and robust motor programs in vertebrates.

scholarly journals Intracellular and Computational Characterization of the Intracortical Inhibitory Control of Synchronized Thalamic Inputs In Vivo

1997 ◽  
Vol 78 (1) ◽  
pp. 335-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Contreras ◽  
Alain Destexhe ◽  
Mircea Steriade
Keyword(s):  
Inhibitory Control ◽  
Computational Models ◽  
Pyramidal Cells ◽  
Excitatory Postsynaptic Potential ◽  
Thalamic Stimulation ◽  
Postsynaptic Potential ◽  
Spike Wave

Contreras, Diego, Alain Destexhe, and Mircea Steriade. Intracellular and computational characterization of the intracortical inhibitory control of synchronized thalamic inputs in vivo. J. Neurophysiol. 78: 335–350, 1997. We investigated the presence and role of local inhibitory cortical control over synchronized thalamic inputs during spindle oscillations (7–14 Hz) by combining intracellular recordings of pyramidal cells in barbiturate-anesthetized cats and computational models. The recordings showed that 1) similar excitatory postsynaptic potential (EPSP)/inhibitory postsynaptic potential (IPSP) sequences occurred either during spindles or following thalamic stimulation; 2) reversed IPSPs with chloride-filled pipettes transformed spindle-related EPSP/IPSP sequences into robust bursts with spike inactivation, resembling paroxysmal depolarizing shifts during seizures; and 3) dual simultaneous impalements showed that inhibition associated with synchronized thalamic inputs is local. Computational models were based on reconstructed pyramidal cells constrained by recordings from the same cells. These models showed that the transformation of EPSP/IPSP sequences into fully developed spike bursts critically needs a relatively high density of inhibitory currents in the soma and proximal dendrites. In addition, models predict significant Ca2+ transients in dendrites due to synchronized thalamic inputs. We conclude that synchronized thalamic inputs are subject to strong inhibitory control within the cortex and propose that 1) local impairment of inhibition contributes to the transformation of spindles into spike-wave-type discharges, and 2) spindle-related inputs trigger Ca2+ events in cortical dendrites that may subserve plasticity phenomena during sleep.

scholarly journals Inhibition within a premotor circuit controls the timing of vocal turn-taking in zebra finches

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan I. Benichov ◽  
Daniela Vallentin
Keyword(s):  
Neural Circuit ◽  
Zebra Finches ◽  
Vocal Responses ◽  
Local Inhibition ◽  
Impaired Ability ◽  
Neuron Activation ◽  
Electrophysiological Recordings ◽  
Vocal Signals ◽  
Turn Taking ◽  
Pharmacological Manipulations

AbstractVocal turn-taking is a fundamental organizing principle of human conversation but the neural circuit mechanisms that structure coordinated vocal interactions are unknown. The ability to exchange vocalizations in an alternating fashion is also exhibited by other species, including zebra finches. With a combination of behavioral testing, electrophysiological recordings, and pharmacological manipulations we demonstrate that activity within a cortical premotor nucleus orchestrates the timing of calls in socially interacting zebra finches. Within this circuit, local inhibition precedes premotor neuron activation associated with calling. Blocking inhibition results in faster vocal responses as well as an impaired ability to flexibly avoid overlapping with a partner. These results support a working model in which premotor inhibition regulates context-dependent timing of vocalizations and enables the precise interleaving of vocal signals during turn-taking.

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