scholarly journals QPLOT Neurons—Converging on a Thermoregulatory Preoptic Neuronal Population

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian A. Upton ◽  
Shane P. D’Souza ◽  
Richard A. Lang
Keyword(s):  
Metabolic Regulation ◽  
Preoptic Area ◽  
Neuronal Population ◽  
Preoptic Nucleus ◽  
Control Center ◽  
Neuronal Populations ◽  
Violet Light ◽  
Inflammatory Stimuli ◽  
Neuronal Subtype ◽  
Unified Description

The preoptic area of the hypothalamus is a homeostatic control center. The heterogeneous neurons in this nucleus function to regulate the sleep/wake cycle, reproduction, thirst and hydration, as well as thermogenesis and other metabolic responses. Several recent studies have analyzed preoptic neuronal populations and demonstrated neuronal subtype-specific roles in suppression of thermogenesis. These studies showed similar thermogenesis responses to chemogenetic modulation, and similar synaptic tracing patterns for neurons that were responsive to cold, to inflammatory stimuli, and to violet light. A reanalysis of single-cell/nucleus RNA-sequencing datasets of the preoptic nucleus indicate that these studies have converged on a common neuronal population that when activated, are sufficient to suppress thermogenesis. Expanding on a previous name for these neurons (Q neurons, which reflect their ability to promote quiescence and expression of Qrfp), we propose a new name: QPLOT neurons, to reflect numerous molecular markers of this population and to capture its broader roles in metabolic regulation. Here, we summarize previous findings on this population and present a unified description of QPLOT neurons, the excitatory preoptic neuronal population that integrate a variety of thermal, metabolic, hormonal and environmental stimuli in order to regulate metabolism and thermogenesis.

scholarly journals Topological and histological description of preoptic area and hypothalamus in cardinal tetra Paracheirodon axelrodi (Characiformes: Characidae)

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura Rincón ◽  
Martha J. Obando ◽  
Mario O. Tovar ◽  
Matías Pandolfi ◽  
Hernan Hurtado
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Preoptic Area ◽  
Staining Pattern ◽  
Lamina Terminalis ◽  
Preoptic Nucleus ◽  
Paraffin Sections ◽  
Neuron Morphology ◽  
Organum Vasculosum ◽  
Optic Microscopy ◽  
Nissl Technique

ABSTRACT Topological and histological descriptions of the preoptic area and hypothalamus of the cardinal tetra Paracheirodon axelrodi were performed. Standard histological paraffin sections were used and stained with Nissl technique, and plastic sections for high-resolution optic microscopy (HROM). The preoptic area showed some differences related to the location of the magnocellular preoptic nucleus (PM) and the size of the neurons in this region, as they were the biggest in all the preoptic area. Additionally, within the preoptic area, the different structures that comprise the organum vasculosum of the lamina terminalis (OVLT) were identified and characterized. The hypothalamus could be subdivided in three regions - the ventral, the dorsal and the caudal hypothalamic regions - neuron morphology, size and staining pattern were similar in all of them.

scholarly journals Gene expression analysis in the mouse brainstem identifies Cart and Nesfatin as neuropeptides coexpressed in the Calbindin-positive neurons of the Nucleus papilio

SLEEP ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (11) ◽  
Author(s):  
Franck Girard ◽  
Michelle von Siebenthal ◽  
Fred P Davis ◽  
Marco R Celio
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Rem Sleep ◽  
Neuronal Population ◽  
Brain Atlas ◽  
Rem Sleep Deprivation ◽  
Neuronal Populations ◽  
Hybridization Data ◽  
Brainstem Nucleus ◽  
Genes Encoding

Abstract Study Objectives: The brainstem contains several neuronal populations, heterogeneous in terms of neurotransmitter/neuropeptide content, which are important for controlling various aspects of the rapid eye movement (REM) phase of sleep. Among these populations are the Calbindin (Calb)-immunoreactive NPCalb neurons, located in the Nucleus papilio, within the dorsal paragigantocellular nucleus (DPGi), and recently shown to control eye movement during the REM phase of sleep. Methods: We performed in-depth data mining of the in situ hybridization data collected at the Allen Brain Atlas, in order to identify potentially interesting genes expressed in this brainstem nucleus. Our attention focused on genes encoding neuropeptides, including Cart (Cocaine and Amphetamine Regulated Transcripts) and Nesfatin 1. Results: While nesfatin 1 appeared ubiquitously expressed in this Calb-positive neuronal population, Cart was coexpressed in only a subset of these glutamatergic NPCalb neurons. Furthermore, an REM sleep deprivation and rebound assay performed with mice revealed that the Cart-positive neuronal population within the DPGi was activated during REM sleep (as measured by c-fos immunoreactivity), suggesting a role of this neuropeptide in regulating some aspects of REM sleep. Conclusions: The assembled information could afford functional clues to investigators, conducive to further experimental pursuits.

Sleep-related c-Fos protein expression in the preoptic hypothalamus: effects of ambient warming

2000 ◽  
Vol 279 (6) ◽  
pp. R2079-R2088 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Gong ◽  
Ronald Szymusiak ◽  
Janice King ◽  
Teresa Steininger ◽  
Dennis McGinty
Keyword(s):  
Protein Expression ◽  
Ambient Temperature ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Preoptic Area ◽  
Thermal Stimulation ◽  
Preoptic Nucleus ◽  
Ambient Temperatures ◽  
Median Preoptic Nucleus ◽  
Fos Protein ◽  
Stimulation Of

Preoptic area (POA) neuronal activity promotes sleep, but the localization of critical sleep-active neurons is not completely known. Thermal stimulation of the POA also facilitates sleep. This study used the c-Fos protein immunostaining method to localize POA sleep-active neurons at control (22°C) and mildly elevated (31.5°C) ambient temperatures. At 22°C, after sleep, but not after waking, we found increased numbers of c-Fos immunoreactive neurons (IRNs) in both rostral and caudal parts of the median preoptic nucleus (MnPN) and in the ventrolateral preoptic area (VLPO). In animals sleeping at 31.5°C, significantly more Fos IRNs were found in the rostral MnPN compared with animals sleeping at 22°C. In VLPO, Fos IRN counts were no longer increased over waking levels after sleep at the elevated ambient temperature. Sleep-associated Fos IRNs were also found diffusely in the POA, but counts were lower than those made after waking. This study supports a hypothesis that the MnPN, as well as the VLPO, is part of the POA sleep-facilitating system and that the rostral MnPN may facilitate sleep, particularly at elevated ambient temperatures.

Preoptic Activation of Frog Mating Behavior

Behaviour ◽  
1967 ◽  
Vol 30 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 239-257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert S. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Stimulation ◽  
Mating Behavior ◽  
Rana Pipiens ◽  
Preoptic Area ◽  
Preoptic Nucleus ◽  
Bufo Americanus ◽  
Electrode Holder ◽  
Tree Frogs ◽  
Stimulation Of

AbstractThe effects of preoptic lesions on mating calling and mate orientation were studied in Rana pipiens and several species of tree frogs (Hylidae). Mating calling was evoked by electrical stimulation of the preoptic area of Rana pipiens and Bufo americanus. A new chronic electrode holder is described. It is concluded that the region of the dorsal magnocellular preoptic nucleus is needed for mate orientation and that the region of the ventral magnocellular preoptic nucleus is needed for mating calling. It is suggested that these preoptic regions may act mainly as activators of more posterior "centers". Mating calling may have evolved through the origin of connections between pre-existing preoptic activators and a pre-existing release calling "center", rather than through the origin of a new mating calling "center".

scholarly journals What, if anything, is the true neurophysiological significance of “rotational dynamics”?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikhail A. Lebedev ◽  
Alexei Ossadtchi ◽  
Nil Adell Mill ◽  
Núria Armengol Urpí ◽  
Maria R. Cervera ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neuronal Population ◽  
Rotational Dynamics ◽  
Neuronal Responses ◽  
Linear Transformations ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Temporal Shift ◽  
Firing Rates ◽  
Motor Behaviors ◽  
Neuronal Populations ◽  
Neuronal Mechanisms

AbstractBack in 2012, Churchland and his colleagues proposed that “rotational dynamics”, uncovered through linear transformations of multidimensional neuronal data, represent a fundamental type of neuronal population processing in a variety of organisms, from the isolated leech central nervous system to the primate motor cortex. Here, we evaluated this claim using Churchland’s own data and simple simulations of neuronal responses. We observed that rotational patterns occurred in neuronal populations when (1) there was a temporal shift in peak firing rates exhibited by individual neurons, and (2) the temporal sequence of peak rates remained consistent across different experimental conditions. Provided that such a temporal order of peak firing rates existed, rotational patterns could be easily obtained using a rather arbitrary computer simulation of neural activity; modeling of any realistic properties of motor cortical responses was not needed. Additionally, arbitrary traces, such as Lissajous curves, could be easily obtained from Churchland’s data with multiple linear regression. While these observations suggest that temporal sequences of neuronal responses could be visualized as rotations with various methods, we express doubt about Churchland et al.’s exaggerated assessment that such rotations are related to “an unexpected yet surprisingly simple structure in the population response”, which “explains many of the confusing features of individual neural responses.” Instead, we argue that their approach provides little, if any, insight on the underlying neuronal mechanisms employed by neuronal ensembles to encode motor behaviors in any species.

scholarly journals Primary motor cortex activity traces distinct trajectories of population dynamics during spontaneous facial motor sequences in mice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Carlos Boffi ◽  
Tristan Wiessalla ◽  
Robert Prevedel
Keyword(s):  
Population Dynamics ◽  
Motor Cortex ◽  
Primary Motor Cortex ◽  
Neuronal Population ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Sequencing Analysis ◽  
Population Activity ◽  
Neuronal Populations ◽  
Custom Made ◽  
Facial Area

AbstractWe explore the link between on-going neuronal activity at primary motor cortex (M1) and face movement in awake mice. By combining custom-made behavioral sequencing analysis and fast volumetric Ca2+-imaging, we simultaneously tracked M1 population activity during many different facial motor sequences. We show that a facial area of M1 displays distinct trajectories of neuronal population dynamics across different spontaneous facial motor sequences, suggesting an underlying population dynamics code.Significance statementHow our brain controls a seemingly limitless diversity of body movements remains largely unknown. Recent research brings new light into this subject by showing that neuronal populations at the primary motor cortex display different dynamics during forelimb reaching movements versus grasping, which suggests that different motor sequences could be associated with distinct motor cortex population dynamics. To explore this possibility, we designed an experimental paradigm for simultaneously tracking the activity of neuronal populations in motor cortex across many different motor sequences. Our results support the concept that distinct population dynamics encode different motor sequences, bringing new insight into the role of motor cortex in sculpting behavior while opening new avenues for future research.

scholarly journals Overlapping Neuronal Population Responses in the Human Parietal Cortex during Visuospatial Attention and Arithmetic Processing

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Nan Liu ◽  
Pedro Pinheiro-Chagas ◽  
Clara Sava-Segal ◽  
Sabine Kastner ◽  
Qi Chen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Parietal Cortex ◽  
Posterior Parietal Cortex ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
Neuronal Population ◽  
Visuospatial Attention ◽  
High Signal ◽  
Noninvasive Methods ◽  
Attention Task ◽  
Neuronal Populations ◽  
Neurosurgical Patients

Abstract Engagement of posterior parietal cortex (PPC) in visuospatial attention and arithmetic processing has been extensively documented using neuroimaging methods. Numerous studies have suggested a close connection between visuospatial attention and arithmetic processing. However, given that the extant evidence in humans stem from neuroimaging methods that have relied on group analyses without much knowledge about the profile of neurophysiological engagement within localized neuronal populations at the individual brain level. Hence, it has remained unclear if the overlap of two functions in the PPC is the product of averaging, or they truly stem from a common profile of activity within the same neuronal populations in the human PPC. In the current study, we leveraged the anatomical precision and high signal-to-noise ratio of intracranial electrocorticography and probed the engagement of discrete PPC neuronal populations in seven neurosurgical patients (n = 179 total PPC sites covered; 26 sites in average per individual participant). We aimed to study the extent of parietal activations within each individual brain during visuospatial attention versus arithmetic tasks and the profile of electrophysiological responses within a given recording site during these tasks. Our findings indicated that about 40% of PPC sites did not respond to either visuospatial attention or arithmetic stimuli—or episodic memory conditions that were used as an adjunct control condition. Of those that were activated during either visuospatial attention or arithmetic conditions, a large majority showed overlapping responses during both visuospatial attention and arithmetic conditions. Most interestingly, responses during arithmetic processing were greatest in sites along the intraparietal sulcus region showing preference to contralateral, instead of ipsilateral, visual probes in the visuospatial attention task. Our results provide novel data about the relationship between numerical and spatial orientation at the neuronal population level and shed light on the complex functional organization of the PPC that could not be attained with noninvasive methods.

scholarly journals Electrocorticographic dissociation of alpha and beta rhythmic activity in the human sensorimotor system

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arjen Stolk ◽  
Loek Brinkman ◽  
Mariska J. Vansteensel ◽  
Erik Aarnoutse ◽  
Frans S. S. Leijten ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sensorimotor Cortex ◽  
Rhythmic Activity ◽  
Neuronal Population ◽  
Imagery Task ◽  
Beta Band ◽  
Neuronal Populations ◽  
Band Power ◽  
Movement Selection ◽  
Spatiotemporal Coordination ◽  
Phase Relationships

AbstractThis study uses electrocorticography in humans to assess how alpha- and beta-band rhythms modulate excitability of the sensorimotor cortex during movement selection, as indexed through a psychophysically-controlled movement imagery task. Both rhythms displayed effector-specific modulations, tracked spectral markers of action potentials in the local neuronal population, and showed spatially systematic phase relationships (traveling waves). Yet, alpha- and beta-band rhythms differed in their anatomical and functional properties, were weakly correlated, and traveled along opposite directions across the sensorimotor cortex. Increased alpha-band power in the somatosensory cortex ipsilateral to the selected arm was associated with spatially-unspecific inhibition. Decreased beta-band power over contralateral motor cortex was associated with a focal shift from relative inhibition to excitation. These observations indicate the relevance of both inhibition and disinhibition mechanisms for precise spatiotemporal coordination of neuronal populations during movement selection. Those mechanisms are implemented through the substantially different neurophysiological properties of sensorimotor alpha- and beta-band rhythms.

scholarly journals Embryonic transcription factor expression in mice predicts medial amygdala neuronal identity and sex-specific responses to innate behavioral cues

eLife ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julieta E Lischinsky ◽  
Katie Sokolowski ◽  
Peijun Li ◽  
Shigeyuki Esumi ◽  
Yasmin Kamal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Transcription Factor ◽  
Preoptic Area ◽  
Neuronal Responses ◽  
Neuronal Identity ◽  
Behavioral Cues ◽  
Factor Expression ◽  
Specific Manner ◽  
Neuronal Subtype ◽  
Innate Behaviors ◽  
Transcription Factor Expression

The medial subnucleus of the amygdala (MeA) plays a central role in processing sensory cues required for innate behaviors. However, whether there is a link between developmental programs and the emergence of inborn behaviors remains unknown. Our previous studies revealed that the telencephalic preoptic area (POA) embryonic niche is a novel source of MeA destined progenitors. Here, we show that the POA is comprised of distinct progenitor pools complementarily marked by the transcription factors Dbx1 and Foxp2. As determined by molecular and electrophysiological criteria this embryonic parcellation predicts postnatal MeA inhibitory neuronal subtype identity. We further find that Dbx1-derived and Foxp2+ cells in the MeA are differentially activated in response to innate behavioral cues in a sex-specific manner. Thus, developmental transcription factor expression is predictive of MeA neuronal identity and sex-specific neuronal responses, providing a potential developmental logic for how innate behaviors could be processed by different MeA neuronal subtypes.

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