Neural control of ventilation in the shore crab, Carcinus maenas. II. Frequency-modulating interneurons

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

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.

Effect of a nonspiking neuron on motor patterns of the leech

Premotor and motoneurons could play regulatory roles in motor control. We have investigated the role of a premotor nonspiking (NS) neuron of the leech nervous system in two locomotive patterns: swimming and crawling. The NS neuron is coupled through rectifying electrical junctions to all the excitatory motoneurons examined. In addition, activation of motoneurons evokes chemically mediated inhibitory responses in NS. During swimming and crawling, the NS membrane potential (Vm(NS)) oscillated phase locked to the motor output. Hyperpolarization or depolarization of NS had no effect on swimming, but hyperpolarization of NS slowed down the crawling activity and decreased the motoneuron firing frequency. Depolarization of NS increased the motoneuron activity, and, at stages where the crawling pattern was fading, depolarization of NS reinstated it. Future work should determine if NS is actually a member of the central pattern generator or a regulatory element.

Information Transfer Rate of Nonspiking Afferent Neurons in the Crab

The thoracic-coxal muscle receptor organ (TCMRO) is the only proprioceptor at the thoracic-coxal joint in the crab leg. The S and T afferent neurons of the TCMRO convey signals to the CNS solely by means of graded changes in membrane potential. The rate of information transfer of these afferents was determined by measuring the signal-to-noise ratio (SΝR) of these cells after repeated stimulation of the receptor with identical sequences of random movement and applying the Shannon formula for the information capacity of a Gaussian channel. Intracellular recordings were made from the S and T afferents adjacent to the transduction site at the origin of the receptor and along the axon 5–7 mm distal to this site. These nonspiking afferents transduce receptor movement and transmit this information with extremely high fidelity. The SNR of both neurons near the transduction site was >1000 over most of the 200 Hz stimulation bandwidth, and the mean information transfer rate was ∼2,500 bits/s. When calculated over a wider bandwidth of 500 Hz, the information rate was >4,600 bits/s. The effect of axonal cable properties on the information rate was evaluated by determining the SNR from membrane potential recordings made 5–7 mm distal to the transduction region. The major effect of graded transmission along the axon was attenuation and low-pass filtering of the sensory signal. The consequent reduction in signal power and bandwidth decreased the information transfer by ∼10–15% over 200 Hz and ∼30% over a 500 Hz bandwidth.

Nonspiking and spiking proprioceptors in the crab: nonlinear analysis of nonspiking TCMRO afferents

The proprioceptor that signals the position and movement of the first joint of crustacean legs provides an excellent system for investigating information processing and transmission in neurons that function in a graded (nonspiking) manner in the context of a simple motor system. The thoracic-coxal muscle receptor organ (TCMRO) spans the thoracic-coxal joint and transmits graded signals to the CNS via two large nonspiking axons. The response characteristics and nonlinear models of the input-output relationship for the two nonspiking TCMRO afferents (S and T fibers) were determined using white noise analysis (Wiener kernel) methods. The best-fitting linear responses of these neurons was similar, as were their second-order kernels. The gains of the afferents slowly increased with increasing frequency and reached a maximum at approximately 40-60 Hz for the S fiber and 60-80 Hz for the T fiber. Above this corner frequency, the gains of both afferents decreased at approximately 20 dB/decade for the remainder of the 220-Hz stimulus bandwidth. The shape of the first-order kernels, and hence the corresponding (linear) gain functions, of both afferents were similar when driven with different amplitudes of noise, covering a 40-fold amplitude range. Predictions of the S fiber response based on the first two Wiener kernels were accurate, with the second-order model producing a mean square error of 6-8%. Second-order Wiener models for the T fiber were less accurate with a mean square error of approximately 22-26%, but this accuracy improved to 10-16% with the incorporation of the third-order term in the Wiener expansion. The effect of cable properties on the transmission of the sensory potentials to the CNS was evaluated by determining the system characteristics using membrane potentials 5-7 mm distal to the transduction site. The major change after transmission along the axon was a low-pass filtering of the sensory signals and consequent reduction in signal bandwidth.

Follower neurons in lobster (Panulirus interruptus) pyloric network regulate pacemaker period in complementary ways

Distributed neural networks (ones characterized by high levels of interconnectivity among network neurons) are not well understood. Increased insight into these systems can be obtained by perturbing network activity so as to study the functions of specific neurons not only in the network's "baseline" activity but across a range of network activities. We applied this technique to study cycle period control in the rhythmic pyloric network of the lobster, Panulirus interruptus. Pyloric rhythmicity is driven by an endogenous oscillator, the Anterior Burster (AB) neuron. Two network neurons feed back onto the pacemaker, the Lateral Pyloric (LP) neuron by inhibition and the Ventricular Dilator (VD) neuron by electrical coupling. LP and VD neuron effects on pyloric cycle period can be studied across a range of periods by altering period by injecting current into the AB neuron and functionally removing (by hyperpolarization) the LP and VD neurons from the network at each period. Within a range of pacemaker periods, the LP and VD neurons regulate period in complementary ways. LP neuron removal speeds the network and VD neuron removal slows it. Outside this range, network activity is disrupted because the LP neuron cannot follow slow periods, and the VD neuron cannot follow fast periods. These neurons thus also limit, in complementary ways, normal pyloric activity to a certain period range. These data show that follower neurons in pacemaker networks can play central roles in controlling pacemaker period and suggest that in some cases specific functions can be assigned to individual network neurons.

In situ and in vitro identification and characterization of cardiac ganglion neurons in the crab, Carcinus maenas

The aim of this study was to investigate the intrinsic membrane properties and hormonal responses of individual central pattern generating neurons in the cardiac ganglion of the shore crab Carcinus maenas. Because the cardiac ganglion in this crustacean species is buried within the heart musculature and is therefore inaccessible for direct morphological and electrophysiological analysis, we developed two novel in vitro preparations. First, to make the ganglion accessible, we established a brief enzymatic treatment procedure that enabled us to isolate the entire cardiac ganglion, in the absence of muscle tissue. Second, a cell culture procedure was developed to isolate individual neurons in vitro. With the use of both isolated ganglionic and neuronal cell culture techniques, this study provides the first direct account of the neuroanatomy of the cardiac ganglion in shore crabs. We demonstrate that cultured neurons not only survived the isolation procedures, but that they also maintained their intrinsic membrane and transmitter response properties, similar to those seen in the intact ganglion. Specifically, we tested the peptides proctolin, crustacean cardioactive peptide, the FLRFamide-related peptide F2, and an amine (serotonin) on both isolated ganglion and in vitro culture neurons. We measured changes in neuronal burst rate, burst amplitude, pacemaker slope, and membrane potential oscillation amplitude in response to the above four hormones. Each hormone either increased neuronal activity in spontaneously bursting neurons, or induced a bursting pattern in quiescent cells. The in vitro cell culture system developed here now provides us with an excellent opportunity to elucidate cellular, synaptic and hormonal mechanisms by which cardiac activity is generated in shore crabs.

Effects of scaphognathite nerve stimulation on the acutely deafferented crab ventilatory central pattern generator

1. Sensory axons from crab (Carcinus maenas) scaphognathites enter the thoracic ganglion primarily via the LNb branch of the levator nerve. The LNa branch of the levator nerve and the depressor nerve each contain relatively few sensory axons. 2. Acutely deafferented ventilatory central pattern generators show a free running burst rate which is lower than that observed in intact crabs. Electrical stimulation of the levator nerve, or of its LNb branch, increases the burst rate in a frequency dependent manner. Stimulation at high enough intensity to recruit afferents will restart a paused motor rhythm. Stimulation of the levator nerve with short pulse trains phase resets and can entrain the rhythm. 3. In addition to increasing the burst rate, LNb stimulation also causes a progressive elimination of motor neurons from the bursts as the stimulating frequency increases, probably due to depolarization of the 3 oval organ 'giant' afferent axons in this branch. Intracellular depolarization of single oval organ afferents will also inhibit some motor neurons as well as slow or stop the rhythm. 4. Continuous stimulation of the depressor nerve does not affect the ganglionic burst rate and this nerve contains only a few small diameter afferent axons; however, brief trains of stimuli can reset the rhythm in a phase-dependent manner.

Dopamine and nicotine, but not serotonin, modulate the crustacean ventilatory pattern generator

Dopamine (DA) causes a dose-dependent increase in the frequency of motor neuron bursts [virtual ventilation (fR)] produced by deafferented crab ventilatory pattern generators (CPGv). Domperidone, a D2-specific DA antagonist, by itself reversibly depresses fR and also blocks the stimulatory effects of DA. Serotonin (5HT) has no direct effects on this CPGv. Nicotine also causes dramatic dose-dependent increases in the frequency of motor bursts from the CPGv. The action is triphasic, beginning with an initial reversal of burst pattern typical of reversed-mode ventilation, followed by a 2- to 3-min period of depression and then a long period of elevated burst rate. Acetylcholine chloride (ACh) alone is ineffective, but in the presence of eserine is moderately stimulatory. The inhibitory effects of nicotine are only partially blocked by curare. The excitatory action of nicotine is blocked by prior perfusion of domperidone, but not by SKF-83566.HCl, a D1-specific DA antagonist. SKF-83566 had no effects on the ongoing pattern of firing. These observations support the hypothesis that dopaminergic pathways are involved in the maintenance of the CPGv rhythm and that the acceleratory effects of nicotine may involve release of DA either directly or via stimulation of atypical ACh receptors at intraganglionic sites.

Nonspiking interneurons in the ventilatory central pattern generator of the shore crab, Carcinus maenas

Eight nonspiking interneurons were identified that are elements of the central pattern generator controlling ventilation in the shore crab, Carcinus maenas. Intracellular recordings from these neurons in an isolated ganglion preparation revealed that these cells exhibit large amplitude oscillations in their membrane potentials, which are in-phase with the ventilatory motor pattern. These oscillations are present during the expression of the two distinct ventilatory motor output patterns corresponding to forward and reversed ventilation, and the oscillations stopped during pauses in the ventilatory rhythm. Injection of intracellular current pulses into these interneurons caused a resetting of the ongoing ventilatory rhythm, indicating that these cells are part of the ventilatory central pattern generator. The structure of each interneuron was determined by the intracellular injection of Lucifer Yellow dye. These neurons have a large diameter main neurite ranging from 10 to 20 microns in diameter with very restricted primary and secondary branching from the main neurite. All of the interneurons are restricted to a single hemiganglion and perturbation of these cells with intracellular current pulses only affect the motor output of the hemiganglion containing the interneuron. These eight nonspiking interneurons appear to be the primary components of the central pattern generator underlying ventilation in the crab.