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Shallow MC, Tian L, Lin H, Lefton KB, Chen S, Dougherty JD, Culver JP, Lambo ME, Hengen KB. At the onset of active whisking, the input layer of barrel cortex exhibits a 24 h window of increased excitability that depends on prior experience. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.06.04.597353. [PMID: 38895408 PMCID: PMC11185658 DOI: 10.1101/2024.06.04.597353] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/21/2024]
Abstract
The development of motor control over sensory organs is a critical milestone in sensory processing, enabling active exploration and shaping of the sensory environment. However, whether the onset of sensory organ motor control directly influences the development of corresponding sensory cortices remains unknown. Here, we exploit the late onset of whisking behavior in mice to address this question in the somatosensory system. Using ex vivo electrophysiology, we discovered a transient increase in the intrinsic excitability of excitatory neurons in layer IV of the barrel cortex, which processes whisker input, precisely coinciding with the onset of active whisking at postnatal day 14 (P14). This increase in neuronal gain was specific to layer IV, independent of changes in synaptic strength, and required prior sensory experience. Strikingly, the effect was not observed in layer II/III of the barrel cortex or in the visual cortex upon eye opening, suggesting a unique interaction between the development of active sensing and the thalamocortical input layer in the somatosensory system. Predictive modeling indicated that changes in active membrane conductances alone could reliably distinguish P14 neurons in control but not whisker-deprived hemispheres. Our findings demonstrate an experience-dependent, lamina-specific refinement of neuronal excitability tightly linked to the emergence of active whisking. This transient increase in the gain of the thalamic input layer coincides with a critical period for synaptic plasticity in downstream layers, suggesting a role in facilitating cortical maturation and sensory processing. Together, our results provide evidence for a direct interaction between the development of motor control and sensory cortex, offering new insights into the experience-dependent development and refinement of sensory systems. These findings have broad implications for understanding the interplay between motor and sensory development, and how the mechanisms of perception cooperate with behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Lucy Tian
- Department of Biology, Washington University in Saint Louis
| | - Hudson Lin
- Department of Biology, Washington University in Saint Louis
| | - Katheryn B Lefton
- Department of Biology, Washington University in Saint Louis
- Department of Neuroscience, Washington University in Saint Louis
| | - Siyu Chen
- Department of Genetics, Washington University in Saint Louis
| | | | - Joe P Culver
- Department of Radiology, Washington University in Saint Louis
| | - Mary E Lambo
- Department of Biology, Washington University in Saint Louis
| | - Keith B Hengen
- Department of Biology, Washington University in Saint Louis
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2
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Bresee C, Litman-Cleper J, Clayton CJ, Krubitzer L. Translating the Timing of Developmental Benchmarks in Short-Tailed Opossums (Monodelphisdomestica) to Facilitate Comparisons with Commonly Used Rodent Models. BRAIN, BEHAVIOR AND EVOLUTION 2024; 99:69-85. [PMID: 38527443 PMCID: PMC11227379 DOI: 10.1159/000538524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2023] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 03/27/2024]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The gray short-tailed opossum, Monodelhis domestica (M. domestica), is a widely used marsupial model species that presents unique advantages for neurodevelopmental studies. Notably their extremely altricial birth allows manipulation of postnatal pups at timepoints equivalent to embryonic stages of placental mammals. A robust literature exists on the development of short-tailed opossums, but many researchers working in the more conventional model species of mice and rats may find it daunting to identify the appropriate age at which to conduct experiments. METHODS Here, we present detailed staging diagrams taken from photographic observations of 40 individual pups, in 6 litters, over 25 timepoints across postnatal development. We also present a comparative neurodevelopmental timeline of short-tailed opossums (M. domestica), the house mouse (Mus musculus), and the laboratory rat (Rattus norvegicus) during embryonic as well as postnatal development, using timepoints taken from this study and a review of existing literature, and use this dataset to present statistical models comparing the opossum to the rat and mouse. RESULTS One aim of this research was to aid in testing the generalizability of results found in rodents to other mammalian brains, such as the more distantly related metatherians. However, this broad dataset also allows the identification of potential heterochronies in opossum development compared to rats and mice. In contrast to previous work, we found broad similarity between the pace of opossum neural development with that of rats and mice. We also found that development of some systems was accelerated in the opossum, such as the forelimb motor plant, oral motor control, and some aspects of the olfactory system, while the development of the cortex, some aspects of the retina, and other aspects of the olfactory system are delayed compared to the rat and mouse. DISCUSSION The pace of opossum development is broadly similar to that of mice and rats, which underscores the usefulness of this species as a compliment to the more commonly used rodents. Many features that differ the most between opossums and rats and mice were either clustered around the day of birth and were features that have functional importance for the pup immediately after or during birth, or were features that have reduced functional importance for the pup until later in postnatal development, given that it is initially attached to the mother.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chris Bresee
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California at Davis, Davis, (CA,) USA
| | - Jules Litman-Cleper
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California at Davis, Davis, (CA,) USA
| | - Cindy J. Clayton
- Department of Psychology, University of California at Davis, Davis, (CA,) USA
| | - Leah Krubitzer
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California at Davis, Davis, (CA,) USA
- Department of Psychology, University of California at Davis, Davis, (CA,) USA
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3
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Vaissiere T, Michaelson S, Creson T, Goins J, Fürth D, Balazsfi D, Rojas C, Golovin R, Meletis K, Miller CA, O’Connor D, Rumbaugh G. Sensorimotor Integration Supporting Perception Requires Syngap1 Expression in Cortex. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.09.27.559787. [PMID: 37808765 PMCID: PMC10557642 DOI: 10.1101/2023.09.27.559787] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/10/2023]
Abstract
Perception, a cognitive construct, emerges through sensorimotor integration (SMI). The molecular and cellular mechanisms that shape SMI within circuits that promote cognition are poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate that expression of the autism/intellectual disability gene, Syngap1, in mouse cortical excitatory neurons promotes touch sensitivity required to elicit perceptual behaviors. Cortical Syngap1 expression enabled touch-induced feedback signals within sensorimotor loops by assembling circuits that support tactile sensitivity. These circuits also encoded correlates of attention that promoted self-generated whisker movements underlying purposeful and sustained object exploration. As Syngap1 deficient animals explored objects with whiskers, relatively weak touch signals were integrated with relatively strong motor signals. This produced a signal-to-noise deficit consistent with impaired tactile sensitivity, reduced tactile exploration, and weak tactile learning. Thus, Syngap1 expression in cortex promotes tactile perception by assembling circuits that integrate touch and whisker motor signals. Deficient Syngap1 expression likely contributes to cognitive impairment through abnormal top-down SMI.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas Vaissiere
- Department of Neuroscience, The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, Jupiter, FL, USA
| | - Sheldon Michaelson
- Department of Neuroscience, The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, Jupiter, FL, USA
| | - Thomas Creson
- Department of Neuroscience, The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, Jupiter, FL, USA
| | - Jessie Goins
- Department of Neuroscience, The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, Jupiter, FL, USA
| | - Daniel Fürth
- SciLifeLab, Department of Immunology, Genetics & Pathology, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Diana Balazsfi
- Department of Neuroscience, The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, Jupiter, FL, USA
| | - Camilo Rojas
- Department of Neuroscience, The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, Jupiter, FL, USA
| | - Randall Golovin
- Department of Neuroscience, The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, Jupiter, FL, USA
| | | | - Courtney A. Miller
- Department of Neuroscience, The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, Jupiter, FL, USA
- Department of Molecular Medicine, UF Scripps Biomedical Research, Jupiter, FL, USA
| | - Daniel O’Connor
- Department of Neuroscience, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
| | - Gavin Rumbaugh
- Department of Neuroscience, The Herbert Wertheim UF Scripps Institute for Biomedical Innovation & Technology, Jupiter, FL, USA
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4
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At the root of the mammalian mind: The sensory organs, brain and behavior of pre-mammalian synapsids. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2023; 275:25-72. [PMID: 36841570 DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2022.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
All modern mammals are descendants of the paraphyletic non-mammaliaform Synapsida, colloquially referred to as the "mammal-like reptiles." It has long been assumed that these mammalian ancestors were essentially reptile-like in their morphology, biology, and behavior, i.e., they had a small brain, displayed simple behavior, and their sensory organs were unrefined compared to those of modern mammals. Recent works have, however, revealed that neurological, sensory, and behavioral traits previously considered typically mammalian, such as whiskers, enhanced olfaction, nocturnality, parental care, and complex social interactions evolved before the origin of Mammaliaformes, among the early-diverging "mammal-like reptiles." In contrast, an enlarged brain did not evolve immediately after the origin of mammaliaforms. As such, in terms of paleoneurology, the last "mammal-like reptiles" were not significantly different from the earliest mammaliaforms. The abundant data and literature published in the last 10 years no longer supports the "three pulses" scenario of synapsid brain evolution proposed by Rowe and colleagues in 2011, but supports the new "outside-in" model of Rodrigues and colleagues proposed in 2018, instead. As Mesozoic reptiles were becoming the dominant taxa within terrestrial ecosystems, synapsids gradually adapted to smaller body sizes and nocturnality. This resulted in a sensory revolution in synapsids as olfaction, audition, and somatosensation compensated for the loss of visual cues. This altered sensory input is aligned with changes in the brain, the most significant of which was an increase in relative brain size.
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Murasawa H, Soumiya H, Kobayashi H, Imai J, Nagase T, Fukumitsu H. Neonatal bilateral whisker trimming in male mice age-dependently alters brain neurotransmitter levels and causes adolescent onsets of social behavior abnormalities. Biomed Res 2023; 44:147-160. [PMID: 37544736 DOI: 10.2220/biomedres.44.147] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/08/2023]
Abstract
Tactile perception via whiskers is important in rodent behavior. Whisker trimming during the neonatal period affects mouse behaviors related to both whisker-based tactile cognition and social performance. However, the molecular basis of these phenomena is not completely understood. To solve this issue, we investigated developmental changes in transmitters and metabolites in various brain regions of male mice subjected to bilateral whisker trimming during the neonatal period (10 days after birth [BWT10 mice]). We discovered significantly lower levels of 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenyl glycol (MHPG), the major noradrenaline metabolite, in various brain regions of male BWT10 mice at both early/late adolescent stages (at P4W and P8W). However, reduced levels of dopamine (DA) and their metabolites were more significantly identified at P8W in the nuclear origins of monoamine (midbrain and medulla oblongata) and the limbic system (frontal cortex, amygdala, and hippocampus) than at P4W. Furthermore, the onset of social behavior deficits (P6W) was observed later to the impairment of whisker-based tactile cognitive behaviors (P4W). Taken together, these findings suggest that whisker-mediated tactile cognition may contribute toprogressive abnormalities in social behaviors in BWT10 mice accompanied by impaired development of dopaminergic systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroyasu Murasawa
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Department of Biofunctional Analysis, Gifu Pharmaceutical University
- Hashima Laboratory, Nihon Bioresearch Inc
| | - Hitomi Soumiya
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Department of Biofunctional Analysis, Gifu Pharmaceutical University
| | - Hiroyuki Kobayashi
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Department of Biofunctional Analysis, Gifu Pharmaceutical University
- Hashima Laboratory, Nihon Bioresearch Inc
| | - Jun Imai
- Hashima Laboratory, Nihon Bioresearch Inc
| | | | - Hidefumi Fukumitsu
- Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Department of Biofunctional Analysis, Gifu Pharmaceutical University
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6
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Yeganeh F, Knauer B, Guimarães Backhaus R, Yang JW, Stroh A, Luhmann HJ, Stüttgen MC. Effects of optogenetic inhibition of a small fraction of parvalbumin-positive interneurons on the representation of sensory stimuli in mouse barrel cortex. Sci Rep 2022; 12:19419. [PMID: 36371511 PMCID: PMC9653449 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-24156-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Accepted: 11/10/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Inhibitory interneurons play central roles in the modulation of spontaneous network activity and in processing of neuronal information. In sensory neocortical areas, parvalbumin-positive (PV+) GABAergic interneurons control the representation and processing of peripheral sensory inputs. We studied the functional role of PV+ interneurons in the barrel cortex of anesthetized adult PVCre mice by combining extracellular multi-electrode recordings with optogenetic silencing of a small fraction of PV+ interneurons. In all cortical layers, optogenetic inhibition caused an increase in spontaneous network activity from theta to gamma frequencies. The spatio-temporal representation of sensory inputs was studied by stimulating one or two whiskers at different intervals and analyzing the resulting local field potential (LFP) and single unit (SU) response. Silencing PV+ interneurons caused an increase in LFP response to sensory stimulation and a decrease in temporal discrimination of consecutive whisker deflections. The combined effect of whisker deflection and optogenetic inhibition was highly similar to the linear sum of the individual effects of these two manipulations. SU recordings revealed that optogenetic silencing reduced stimulus detectability by increasing stimulus-evoked firing rate by a constant offset, suggesting that PV+ interneurons improve signal-to-noise ratio by reducing ongoing spiking activity, thereby sharpening the spatio-temporal representation of sensory stimuli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fahimeh Yeganeh
- grid.410607.4Institute of Physiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Duesbergweg 6, 55128 Mainz, Germany ,grid.410607.4Institute of Pathophysiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Duesbergweg 6, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Beate Knauer
- grid.410607.4Institute of Pathophysiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Duesbergweg 6, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | | | - Jenq-Wei Yang
- grid.410607.4Institute of Physiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Duesbergweg 6, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Albrecht Stroh
- grid.410607.4Institute of Pathophysiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Duesbergweg 6, 55128 Mainz, Germany ,grid.509458.50000 0004 8087 0005Leibniz Institute for Resilience Research, Mainz, Germany
| | - Heiko J. Luhmann
- grid.410607.4Institute of Physiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Duesbergweg 6, 55128 Mainz, Germany
| | - Maik C. Stüttgen
- grid.410607.4Institute of Pathophysiology, University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, Duesbergweg 6, 55128 Mainz, Germany
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7
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James SS, Englund M, Bottom R, Perez R, Conner KE, Huffman KJ, Wilson SP, Krubitzer LA. Comparing the development of cortex-wide gene expression patterns between two species in a common reference frame. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2022; 119:e2113896119. [PMID: 36201538 PMCID: PMC9564327 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2113896119] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2021] [Accepted: 08/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Advances in sequencing techniques have made comparative studies of gene expression a current focus for understanding evolutionary and developmental processes. However, insights into the spatial expression of genes have been limited by a lack of robust methodology. To overcome this obstacle, we developed methods and software tools for quantifying and comparing tissue-wide spatial patterns of gene expression within and between species. Here, we compare cortex-wide expression of RZRβ and Id2 mRNA across early postnatal development in mice and voles. We show that patterns of RZRβ expression in neocortical layer 4 are highly conserved between species but develop rapidly in voles and much more gradually in mice, who show a marked expansion in the relative size of the putative primary visual area across the first postnatal week. Patterns of Id2 expression, by contrast, emerge in a dynamic and layer-specific sequence that is consistent between the two species. We suggest that these differences in the development of neocortical patterning reflect the independent evolution of brains, bodies, and sensory systems in the 35 million years since their last common ancestor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastian S. James
- Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, United Kingdom
| | - Mackenzie Englund
- Department of Psychology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
| | - Riley Bottom
- Department of Psychology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521
| | - Roberto Perez
- Department of Psychology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521
| | - Kathleen E. Conner
- Department of Psychology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521
| | - Kelly J. Huffman
- Department of Psychology, University of California Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521
| | - Stuart P. Wilson
- Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S10 2TN, United Kingdom
| | - Leah A. Krubitzer
- Department of Psychology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616
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8
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Simanaviciute U, Brown RE, Wong A, Fertan E, Grant RA. Abnormal whisker movements in the 3xTg-AD mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. GENES, BRAIN, AND BEHAVIOR 2022; 21:e12813. [PMID: 35733405 PMCID: PMC9744487 DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12813] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/11/2021] [Revised: 04/27/2022] [Accepted: 04/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease is the most frequent form of dementia in elderly people. The triple transgenic (3xTg-AD) mouse model of Alzheimer's Disease is important in biomedical research as these mice develop both neuropathological and behavioural phenotypes. However, their behavioural phenotype is variable, with findings depending on the specific task, as well as the age and sex of the mice. Whisker movements show motor, sensory and cognitive deficits in mouse models of neurodegenerative disease. Therefore, we examined whisker movements in 3, 12.5 and 17-month-old female 3xTg-AD mice and their B6129S/F2 wildtype controls. Mice were filmed using a high-speed video camera (500 fps) in an open arena during a novel object exploration task. Genotype and age differences were found in mice exploring the arena prior to object contact. Prior to whisker contact, the 3-month-old 3xTg-AD mice had smaller whisker angles compared with the wildtype controls, suggesting an early motor phenotype in these mice. Pre-contact mean angular position at 3 months and whisking amplitude at 17 months of age differed between the 3xTg-AD and wildtype mice. During object contact 3xTg-AD mice did not reduce whisker spread as frequently as the wildtype mice at 12.5 and 17 months, which may suggest sensory or attentional deficits. We show that whisker movements are a powerful behavioural measurement tool for capturing behavioural deficits in mouse models that show complex phenotypes, such as the 3xTg-AD mouse model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ugne Simanaviciute
- Department of Natural SciencesManchester Metropolitan UniversityManchesterUK
| | - Richard E. Brown
- Department of Psychology and NeuroscienceDalhousie UniversityHalifaxNova ScotiaCanada
| | - Aimee Wong
- Department of Psychology and NeuroscienceDalhousie UniversityHalifaxNova ScotiaCanada
| | - Emre Fertan
- Department of Psychology and NeuroscienceDalhousie UniversityHalifaxNova ScotiaCanada
| | - Robyn A. Grant
- Department of Natural SciencesManchester Metropolitan UniversityManchesterUK
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9
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Attard MRG, Lewis A, Wroe S, Hughes C, Rogers TL. Whisker growth in Tasmanian devils (
Sarcophilus harrisii
) and applications for stable isotope studies. Ecosphere 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.3846] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Marie R. G. Attard
- Department of Biological Sciences Royal Holloway University of London Egham TW20 0EX UK
- Evolution and Ecology Research Centre School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Anna Lewis
- Evolution and Ecology Research Centre School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales Sydney New South Wales Australia
- The Carnivore Conservancy Ulverstone Tasmania Australia
| | - Stephen Wroe
- Function, Evolution and Anatomy Research Laboratory School of Environmental and Rural Science University of New England Armidale New South Wales Australia
| | - Channing Hughes
- The Carnivore Conservancy Ulverstone Tasmania Australia
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences The University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales Australia
| | - Tracey L. Rogers
- Evolution and Ecology Research Centre School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences University of New South Wales Sydney New South Wales Australia
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10
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Mannella F, Maggiore F, Baltieri M, Pezzulo G. Active inference through whiskers. Neural Netw 2021; 144:428-437. [PMID: 34563752 DOI: 10.1016/j.neunet.2021.08.037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2021] [Revised: 08/29/2021] [Accepted: 08/31/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Rodents use whisking to probe actively their environment and to locate objects in space, hence providing a paradigmatic biological example of active sensing. Numerous studies show that the control of whisking has anticipatory aspects. For example, rodents target their whisker protraction to the distance at which they expect objects, rather than just reacting fast to contacts with unexpected objects. Here we characterize the anticipatory control of whisking in rodents as an active inference process. In this perspective, the rodent is endowed with a prior belief that it will touch something at the end of the whisker protraction, and it continuously modulates its whisking amplitude to minimize (proprioceptive and somatosensory) prediction errors arising from an unexpected whisker-object contact, or from a lack of an expected contact. We will use the model to qualitatively reproduce key empirical findings about the ways rodents modulate their whisker amplitude during exploration and the scanning of (expected or unexpected) objects. Furthermore, we will discuss how the components of active inference model can in principle map to the neurobiological circuits of rodent whisking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Francesco Mannella
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy.
| | - Federico Maggiore
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy.
| | - Manuel Baltieri
- Laboratory for Neural Computation and Adaptation, RIKEN Centre for Brain Science, Wako-shi, Japan.
| | - Giovanni Pezzulo
- Institute of Cognitive Sciences and Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy.
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11
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Boublil BL, Diebold CA, Moss CF. Mechanosensory Hairs and Hair-like Structures in the Animal Kingdom: Specializations and Shared Functions Serve to Inspire Technology Applications. SENSORS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2021; 21:6375. [PMID: 34640694 PMCID: PMC8512044 DOI: 10.3390/s21196375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2021] [Revised: 09/20/2021] [Accepted: 09/21/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Biological mechanosensation has been a source of inspiration for advancements in artificial sensory systems. Animals rely on sensory feedback to guide and adapt their behaviors and are equipped with a wide variety of sensors that carry stimulus information from the environment. Hair and hair-like sensors have evolved to support survival behaviors in different ecological niches. Here, we review the diversity of biological hair and hair-like sensors across the animal kingdom and their roles in behaviors, such as locomotion, exploration, navigation, and feeding, which point to shared functional properties of hair and hair-like structures among invertebrates and vertebrates. By reviewing research on the role of biological hair and hair-like sensors in diverse species, we aim to highlight biological sensors that could inspire the engineering community and contribute to the advancement of mechanosensing in artificial systems, such as robotics.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Cynthia F. Moss
- Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 N Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218, USA; (B.L.B.); (C.A.D.)
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12
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Grant RA, Goss VGA. What can whiskers tell us about mammalian evolution, behaviour, and ecology? Mamm Rev 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/mam.12253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/29/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Robyn A. Grant
- Department of Natural Sciences Manchester Metropolitan University John Dalton Building, Chester Street ManchesterM1 5GDUK
| | - Victor G. A. Goss
- School of Engineering London South Bank University Borough Road LondonSE1 0AAUK
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13
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Mocanu VM, Shmuel A. Optical Imaging-Based Guidance of Viral Microinjections and Insertion of a Laminar Electrophysiology Probe Into a Predetermined Barrel in Mouse Area S1BF. Front Neural Circuits 2021; 15:541676. [PMID: 34054436 PMCID: PMC8158817 DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2021.541676] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 03/31/2021] [Indexed: 12/04/2022] Open
Abstract
Wide-field Optical Imaging of Intrinsic Signals (OI-IS; Grinvald et al., 1986) is a method for imaging functional brain hemodynamic responses, mainly used to image activity from the surface of the cerebral cortex. It localizes small functional modules – such as cortical columns – with great spatial resolution and spatial specificity relative to the site of increases in neuronal activity. OI-IS is capable of imaging responses either through an intact or thinned skull or following a craniotomy. Therefore, it is minimally invasive, which makes it ideal for survival experiments. Here we describe OI-IS-based methods for guiding microinjections of optogenetics viral vectors in proximity to small functional modules (S1 barrels) of the cerebral cortex and for guiding the insertion of electrodes for electrophysiological recording into such modules. We validate our proposed methods by tissue processing of the cerebral barrel field area, revealing the track of the electrode in a predetermined barrel. In addition, we demonstrate the use of optical imaging to visualize the spatial extent of the optogenetics photostimulation, making it possible to estimate one of the two variables that conjointly determine which region of the brain is stimulated. Lastly, we demonstrate the use of OI-IS at high-magnification for imaging the upper recording contacts of a laminar probe, making it possible to estimate the insertion depth of all contacts relative to the surface of the cortex. These methods support the precise positioning of microinjections and recording electrodes, thus overcoming the variability in the spatial position of fine-scale functional modules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Victor M Mocanu
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
| | - Amir Shmuel
- McConnell Brain Imaging Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Department of Physiology, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada.,Department of Biomedical Engineering, McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada
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14
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Ramamurthy DL, Dodson HK, Krubitzer LA. Developmental plasticity of texture discrimination following early vision loss in the marsupial Monodelphis domestica. J Exp Biol 2021. [PMCID: PMC8181249 DOI: 10.1242/jeb.236646] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Behavioral strategies that depend on sensory information are not immutable; rather they can be shaped by the specific sensory context in which animals develop. This behavioral plasticity depends on the remarkable capacity of the brain to reorganize in response to alterations in the sensory environment, particularly when changes in sensory input occur at an early age. To study this phenomenon, we utilize the short-tailed opossum, a marsupial that has been a valuable animal model to study developmental plasticity due to the extremely immature state of its nervous system at birth. Previous studies in opossums have demonstrated that removal of retinal inputs early in development results in profound alterations to cortical connectivity and functional organization of visual and somatosensory cortex; however, behavioral consequences of this plasticity are not well understood. We trained early blind and sighted control opossums to perform a two-alternative forced choice texture discrimination task. Whisker trimming caused an acute deficit in discrimination accuracy for both groups, indicating the use of a primarily whisker-based strategy to guide choices based on tactile cues. Mystacial whiskers were important for performance in both groups; however, genal whiskers only contributed to behavioral performance in early blind animals. Early blind opossums significantly outperformed their sighted counterparts in discrimination accuracy, with discrimination thresholds that were lower by ∼75 μm. Our results support behavioral compensation following early blindness using tactile inputs, especially the whisker system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deepa L. Ramamurthy
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95618, USA
| | - Heather K. Dodson
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95618, USA
| | - Leah A. Krubitzer
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95618, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA 95618, USA
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15
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Englund M, Faridjoo S, Iyer CS, Krubitzer L. Available Sensory Input Determines Motor Performance and Strategy in Early Blind and Sighted Short-Tailed Opossums. iScience 2020; 23:101527. [PMID: 33083758 PMCID: PMC7516066 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2020.101527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2020] [Revised: 08/05/2020] [Accepted: 08/31/2020] [Indexed: 01/13/2023] Open
Abstract
The early loss of vision results in a reorganized neocortex, affecting areas of the brain that process both the spared and lost senses, and leads to heightened abilities on discrimination tasks involving the spared senses. Here, we used performance measures and machine learning algorithms that quantify behavioral strategy to determine if and how early vision loss alters adaptive sensorimotor behavior. We tested opossums on a motor task involving somatosensation and found that early blind animals had increased limb placement accuracy compared with sighted controls, while showing similarities in crossing strategy. However, increased reliance on tactile inputs in early blind animals resulted in greater deficits in limb placement and behavioral flexibility when the whiskers were trimmed. These data show that compensatory cross-modal plasticity extends beyond sensory discrimination tasks to motor tasks involving the spared senses and highlights the importance of whiskers in guiding forelimb control. Early blind opossums outperform sighted controls during ladder rung walking Whisker trimming causes forelimb accuracy deficits in blind and sighted opossums Whisker trimming, but not the loss of vision, impacts stereotypical movements Both groups adopt conservative approaches to ladder crossing after whisker trimming
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Affiliation(s)
- Mackenzie Englund
- Department of Psychology, University of California, 135 Young Hall, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Samaan Faridjoo
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, 149 Briggs Hall, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA
| | - Christopher S Iyer
- Symbolic Systems Program, Stanford University, 460 Margaret Jacks Hall, 450 Serra Mall, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Leah Krubitzer
- Department of Psychology, University of California, 135 Young Hall, 1 Shields Avenue, Davis, CA 95616, USA.,Center for Neuroscience, University of California, 1544 Newton Court, Davis, CA 95618, USA
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Zweifel NO, Hartmann MJZ. Defining "active sensing" through an analysis of sensing energetics: homeoactive and alloactive sensing. J Neurophysiol 2020; 124:40-48. [PMID: 32432502 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00608.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The term "active sensing" has been defined in multiple ways. Most strictly, the term refers to sensing that uses self-generated energy to sample the environment (e.g., echolocation). More broadly, the definition includes all sensing that occurs when the sensor is moving (e.g., tactile stimuli obtained by an immobile versus moving fingertip) and, broader still, includes all sensing guided by attention or intent (e.g., purposeful eye movements). The present work offers a framework to help disambiguate aspects of the "active sensing" terminology and reveals properties of tactile sensing unique among all modalities. The framework begins with the well-described "sensorimotor loop," which expresses the perceptual process as a cycle involving four subsystems: environment, sensor, nervous system, and actuator. Using system dynamics, we examine how information flows through the loop. This "sensory-energetic loop" reveals two distinct sensing mechanisms that subdivide active sensing into homeoactive and alloactive sensing. In homeoactive sensing, the animal can change the state of the environment, while in alloactive sensing the animal can alter only the sensor's configurational parameters and thus the mapping between input and output. Given these new definitions, examination of the sensory-energetic loop helps identify two unique characteristics of tactile sensing: 1) in tactile systems, alloactive and homeoactive sensing merge to a mutually controlled sensing mechanism, and 2) tactile sensing may require fundamentally different predictions to anticipate reafferent input. We expect this framework may help resolve ambiguities in the active sensing community and form a basis for future theoretical and experimental work regarding alloactive and homeoactive sensing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadina O Zweifel
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
| | - Mitra J Z Hartmann
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.,Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois
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MORPHOLOGICAL DIVERSITY OF FACIAL VIBRISSAE IN Chaetophractus vellerosus (MAMMALIA, XENARTHRA, DASYPODIDAE) AND DIFFERENTIAL MECHANOPERCEPTION. ZOOLOGY 2020; 140:125773. [PMID: 32408124 DOI: 10.1016/j.zool.2020.125773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2019] [Revised: 03/18/2020] [Accepted: 03/20/2020] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Vibrissae are specialized and complex mechanoreceptor organs present in the skin of most mammals that respond to a diverse mechanical stimuli (e.g. tension, pressure, movement, vibrations) and provide information on distance to the object, its location/orientation, and general characteristics of its surface; also, it may play diverse roles during food acquisition and attacking potential prey. There are scarce papers on the vibrissae of armadillos, only considering their presence/absence and distribution, but no histological analyses have been made. The goal of our contribution is to perform a histological study of the head vibrissae of Chaetophractus vellerosus, identify their morphological features, the tissues that form them, interpret their possible functions, and attempt to link the characteristics with ecological aspects of this species like its digging habits. Our results suggest that Chaetophractus vellerosus possesses two types of vibrissae: macro- and micro-vibrissae. Both types are similar in gross morphology, characterized mainly by an absence of annular sinus and ringwulst, but having a trabecular sinus that extends along the entire length of the follicle; these features might be linked to a reduction of its sensory capacity. Unlike other mammals, the macro-vibrissae are in the genal, anterobital and intermandibular regions, while micro-vibrissae are distributed in the superior labial and mental regions. In addition to size differences, the macro-vibrissae possess intrinsic muscles composed of smooth muscular fibers. The genal macro-vibrissae are very close to each other, with smooth muscle fibers connecting the capsules of adjacent ones (intrinsic muscles). Those from the superior labial and mental (micro-vibrissae), show bundles of striated muscle inserted on their capsules. These muscle fibers would be part of the facial musculature and could be considered as extrinsic muscles. The mobility of these two types of vibrissae must certainly be different, given that the respective muscles (intrinsic and extrinsic) have different origins and innervation. The presence of two types of vibrissae might indicate that these mechanoreceptors have differential perception capacities that would probably be complementary, thus providing more precise information about the environment. The presence of macro-vibrissae in the genal, anteorbital and intermandibular zone would be directly related to the life habits of Chaetophractus vellerosus.
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Delaunay MG, Larsen C, Lloyd H, Sullivan M, Grant RA. Anatomy of avian rictal bristles in Caprimulgiformes reveals reduced tactile function in open-habitat, partially diurnal foraging species. J Anat 2020; 237:355-366. [PMID: 32202663 PMCID: PMC7369198 DOI: 10.1111/joa.13188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2020] [Accepted: 03/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Avian rictal bristles are present in many species of birds, especially in nocturnal species. Rictal bristles occur along the upper beak and are morphologically similar to mammalian whiskers. Mammalian whiskers are important tactile sensors, guiding locomotion, foraging and social interactions, and have a well‐characterised anatomy. However, it is not yet known whether avian rictal bristles have a sensory function, and their morphology, anatomy and function have also not been described in many species. Our study compares bristle morphology, follicle anatomy and their association with foraging traits, across 12 Caprimulgiform species. Rictal bristle morphology and follicle anatomy were diverse across the 12 species. Nine of the 12 species had mechanoreceptors around their bristle follicles; however, there was large variation in their musculature, mechanoreceptor numbers and bristle morphology. Overall, species with short, thin, branching bristles that lacked mechanoreceptors tended to forage pre‐dusk in open habitats, whereas species with mechanoreceptors around their bristle follicle tended to forage at night and in more closed habitats. We suggest that rictal bristles are likely to be tactile in many species and may aid in navigation, foraging and collision avoidance; however, identifying rictal bristle function is challenging and demands further investigation in many species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mariane G Delaunay
- Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
| | - Carl Larsen
- School of Life Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK
| | - Huw Lloyd
- Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
| | - Matthew Sullivan
- Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
| | - Robyn A Grant
- Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
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Pinnipeds orient and control their whiskers: a study on Pacific walrus, California sea lion and Harbor seal. J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2020; 206:441-451. [PMID: 32077991 PMCID: PMC7192888 DOI: 10.1007/s00359-020-01408-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2019] [Revised: 01/30/2020] [Accepted: 02/03/2020] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Whisker touch is an active sensory system. Previous studies in Pinnipeds have adopted relatively stationary tasks to judge tactile sensitivity, which may not accurately promote natural whisker movements and behaviours. This study developed a novel feeding task, termed fish sweeping to encourage whisker movements. Head and whisker movements were tracked from video footage in Harbor seal (Phoca vitulina), California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) and Pacific walrus (Odobenus rosmarus divergens). All species oriented their head towards the moving fish target and moved their whiskers during the task. Some species also engaged in whisker control behaviours, including head-turning asymmetry in the Pacific walrus, and contact-induced asymmetry in the Pacific walrus and California sea lion: behaviours that have only previously been observed in terrestrial mammals. This study confirms that Pinnipeds should be thought of as whisker specialists, and that whisker control (movement and positioning) is an important aspect of touch sensing in these animals, especially in sea lions and walruses. That the California sea lion controls whisker movement in relation to an object, and also had large values of whisker amplitude, spread and asymmetry, suggests that California sea lions are a promising model with which to further explore active touch sensing.
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Simanaviciute U, Ahmed J, Brown RE, Connor-Robson N, Farr TD, Fertan E, Gambles N, Garland H, Morton AJ, Staiger JF, Skillings EA, Trueman RC, Wade-Martins R, Wood NI, Wong AA, Grant RA. Recommendations for measuring whisker movements and locomotion in mice with sensory, motor and cognitive deficits. J Neurosci Methods 2020; 331:108532. [PMID: 31785300 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2019.108532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2019] [Revised: 10/30/2019] [Accepted: 11/25/2019] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous studies have measured whisker movements and locomotion to characterise mouse models of neurodegenerative disease. However, these studies have always been completed in isolation, and do not involve standardized procedures for comparisons across multiple mouse models and background strains. NEW METHOD We present a standard method for conducting whisker movement and locomotion studies, by carrying out qualitative scoring and quantitative measurement of whisker movements from high-speed video footage of mouse models of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease, Cerebellar Ataxia, Somatosensory Cortex Development and Ischemic stroke. RESULTS Sex, background strain, source breeder and genotype all affected whisker movements. All mouse models, apart from Parkinson's disease, revealed differences in whisker movements during locomotion. R6/2 CAG250 Huntington's disease mice had the strongest behavioural phenotype. Robo3R3-5-CKO and RIM-DKOSert mouse models have abnormal somatosensory cortex development and revealed significant changes in whisker movements during object exploration. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S) Our results have good agreement with past studies, which indicates the robustness and reliability of measuring whisking. We recommend that differences in whisker movements of mice with motor deficits can be captured in open field arenas, but that mice with impairments to sensory or cognitive functioning should also be filmed investigating objects. Scoring clips qualitatively before tracking will help to structure later analyses. CONCLUSIONS Studying whisker movements provides a quantitative measure of sensing, motor control and exploration. However, the effect of background strain, sex and age on whisker movements needs to be better understood.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ugne Simanaviciute
- Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, M1 5GD, UK; School of Biological Sciences, Manchester University, Manchester, M13 9PL, UK
| | - Jewel Ahmed
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2UH, UK
| | - Richard E Brown
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Natalie Connor-Robson
- Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PT, UK
| | - Tracy D Farr
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2UH, UK
| | - Emre Fertan
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Nikki Gambles
- Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, M1 5GD, UK; Public Health Institute, Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool, L2 2QP, UK
| | - Huw Garland
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DY, UK
| | - A Jennifer Morton
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DY, UK
| | - Jochen F Staiger
- Institute for Neuroanatomy, University Medical Center, Göttingen, 37075, Germany
| | - Elizabeth A Skillings
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DY, UK
| | - Rebecca C Trueman
- School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2UH, UK
| | - Richard Wade-Martins
- Oxford Parkinson's Disease Centre, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3PT, UK
| | - Nigel I Wood
- Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3DY, UK
| | - Aimee A Wong
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Dalhousie University, Halifax, B3H 4R2, Canada
| | - Robyn A Grant
- Department of Natural Sciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, M1 5GD, UK.
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Gouveia HJCB, Manhães-de-Castro R, Costa-de-Santana BJR, Mendonça CR, Albuquerque G, Visco DB, Lacerda DC, Toscano AE. Maternal exposure to busulfan reduces the cell number in the somatosensory cortex associated with delayed somatic and reflex maturation in neonatal rats. J Chem Neuroanat 2019; 103:101710. [PMID: 31706849 DOI: 10.1016/j.jchemneu.2019.101710] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2019] [Revised: 11/01/2019] [Accepted: 11/01/2019] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Busulfan is a bifunctional alkylating agent used for myeloablative conditioning and in the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia due to its ability to cause DNA damage. However, in rodent experiments, busulfan presented a potential teratogenic and cytotoxic effect. Studies have evaluated the effects of busulfan on fetuses after administration in pregnancy or directly on pups during the lactation period. There are no studies on the effects of busulfan administration during pregnancy on offspring development after birth. We investigated the effects of busulfan on somatic and reflex development and encephalic morphology in young rats after exposure in pregnancy. The pregnant rats were exposed to busulfan (10 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) during the early developmental stage (days 12-14 of the gestational period). After birth, we evaluated the somatic growth, maturation of physical features and reflex-ontogeny during the lactation period. We also assessed the effects of busulfan on encephalic weight and cortical morphometry at 28 days of postnatal life. As a result, busulfan-induced pathological changes included: microcephaly, evaluated by the reduction of cranial axes, delay in reflex maturation and physical features, as well as a decrease in the morphometric parameters of somatosensory and motor cortex. Thus, these results suggest that the administration of a DNA alkylating agent, such as busulfan, during the gestational period can cause damage to the central nervous system in the pups throughout their postnatal development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Henrique J C B Gouveia
- Post Graduate Program in Nutrition, Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | | | - Bárbara J R Costa-de-Santana
- Post Graduate Program in Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | - Carolina R Mendonça
- Post Graduate Program in Nutrition, Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | - Glayciele Albuquerque
- Post Graduate Program in Physiotherapy, Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | - Diego Bulcão Visco
- Post Graduate Program in Nutrition, Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | - Diego Cabral Lacerda
- Post Graduate Program in Nutrition, Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil
| | - Ana Elisa Toscano
- Department of Nursing, CAV, Federal University of Pernambuco, Vitória de Santo Antão, Pernambuco, Brazil.
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Whisking Asymmetry Signals Motor Preparation and the Behavioral State of Mice. J Neurosci 2019; 39:9818-9830. [PMID: 31666357 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.1809-19.2019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2019] [Revised: 10/13/2019] [Accepted: 10/15/2019] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
A central function of the brain is to plan, predict, and imagine the effect of movement in a dynamically changing environment. Here we show that in mice head-fixed in a plus-maze, floating on air, and trained to pick lanes based on visual stimuli, the asymmetric movement, and position of whiskers on the two sides of the face signals whether the animal is moving, turning, expecting reward, or licking. We show that (1) whisking asymmetry is coordinated with behavioral state, and that behavioral state can be decoded and predicted based on asymmetry, (2) even in the absence of tactile input, whisker positioning and asymmetry nevertheless relate to behavioral state, and (3) movement of the nose correlates with asymmetry, indicating that facial expression of the mouse is itself correlated with behavioral state. These results indicate that the movement of whiskers, a behavior that is not instructed or necessary in the task, can inform an observer about what a mouse is doing in the maze. Thus, the position of these mobile tactile sensors reflects a behavioral and movement-preparation state of the mouse.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Behavior is a sequence of movements, where each movement can be related to or can trigger a set of other actions. Here we show that, in mice, the movement of whiskers (tactile sensors used to extract information about texture and location of objects) is coordinated with and predicts the behavioral state of mice: that is, what mice are doing, where they are in space, and where they are in the sequence of behaviors.
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Gillespie D, Yap MH, Hewitt BM, Driscoll H, Simanaviciute U, Hodson-Tole EF, Grant RA. Description and validation of the LocoWhisk system: Quantifying rodent exploratory, sensory and motor behaviours. J Neurosci Methods 2019; 328:108440. [PMID: 31560929 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2019.108440] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2019] [Revised: 09/20/2019] [Accepted: 09/22/2019] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Previous studies have demonstrated that analysing whisker movements and locomotion allows us to quantify the behavioural consequences of sensory, motor and cognitive deficits in rodents. Independent whisker and feet trackers exist but there is no fully-automated, open-source software and hardware solution, that measures both whisker movements and gait. NEW METHOD We present the LocoWhisk arena and new accompanying software (ARTv2) that allows the automatic detection and measurement of both whisker and gait information from high-speed video footage. RESULTS We demonstrate the new whisker and foot detector algorithms on high-speed video footage of freely moving small mammals, and show that whisker movement and gait measurements collected in the LocoWhisk arena are similar to previously reported values in the literature. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHOD(S) We demonstrate that the whisker and foot detector algorithms, are comparable in accuracy, and in some cases significantly better, than readily available software and manual trackers. CONCLUSION The LocoWhisk system enables the collection of quantitative data from whisker movements and locomotion in freely behaving rodents. The software automatically records both whisker and gait information and provides added statistical tools to analyse the data. We hope the LocoWhisk system and software will serve as a solid foundation from which to support future research in whisker and gait analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Gillespie
- School of Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
| | - Moi Hoon Yap
- School of Computing, Mathematics and Digital Technology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
| | - Brett M Hewitt
- School of Computing, Mathematics and Digital Technology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK; School of Science and Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK; CSols Ltd, Runcorn, Cheshire, WA7 4QX, UK
| | - Heather Driscoll
- School of Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK; Advanced Manufacturing Research Center, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
| | - Ugne Simanaviciute
- School of Science and Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK; School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK
| | - Emma F Hodson-Tole
- Musculoskeletal Science and Sports Medicine Research Centre, Dpt. Lifesciences, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
| | - Robyn A Grant
- School of Science and Environment, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK.
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Adibi M. Whisker-Mediated Touch System in Rodents: From Neuron to Behavior. Front Syst Neurosci 2019; 13:40. [PMID: 31496942 PMCID: PMC6712080 DOI: 10.3389/fnsys.2019.00040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2018] [Accepted: 08/02/2019] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
A key question in systems neuroscience is to identify how sensory stimuli are represented in neuronal activity, and how the activity of sensory neurons in turn is “read out” by downstream neurons and give rise to behavior. The choice of a proper model system to address these questions, is therefore a crucial step. Over the past decade, the increasingly powerful array of experimental approaches that has become available in non-primate models (e.g., optogenetics and two-photon imaging) has spurred a renewed interest for the use of rodent models in systems neuroscience research. Here, I introduce the rodent whisker-mediated touch system as a structurally well-established and well-organized model system which, despite its simplicity, gives rise to complex behaviors. This system serves as a behaviorally efficient model system; known as nocturnal animals, along with their olfaction, rodents rely on their whisker-mediated touch system to collect information about their surrounding environment. Moreover, this system represents a well-studied circuitry with a somatotopic organization. At every stage of processing, one can identify anatomical and functional topographic maps of whiskers; “barrelettes” in the brainstem nuclei, “barreloids” in the sensory thalamus, and “barrels” in the cortex. This article provides a brief review on the basic anatomy and function of the whisker system in rodents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mehdi Adibi
- School of Psychology, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia.,Tactile Perception and Learning Lab, International School for Advanced Studies (SISSA), Trieste, Italy.,Padua Neuroscience Center, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
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Layer-specific integration of locomotion and sensory information in mouse barrel cortex. Nat Commun 2019; 10:2585. [PMID: 31197148 PMCID: PMC6565743 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-10564-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2018] [Accepted: 05/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
During navigation, rodents continually sample the environment with their whiskers. How locomotion modulates neuronal activity in somatosensory cortex, and how it is integrated with whisker-touch remains unclear. Here, we compared neuronal activity in layer 2/3 (L2/3) and L5 of barrel cortex using calcium imaging in mice running in a tactile virtual reality. Both layers increase their activity during running and concomitant whisking, in the absence of touch. Fewer neurons are modulated by whisking alone. Whereas L5 neurons respond transiently to wall-touch during running, L2/3 neurons show sustained activity. Consistently, neurons encoding running-with-touch are more abundant in L2/3 and they encode the run-speed better during touch. Few neurons across layers were also sensitive to abrupt perturbations of tactile flow during running. In summary, locomotion significantly enhances barrel cortex activity across layers with L5 neurons mainly reporting changes in touch conditions and L2/3 neurons continually integrating tactile stimuli with running. The influence of locomotion on somatosensory processing in barrel cortex is not well understood. Here the authors report distinct layer-specific responses, with L5 primarily reporting changes in touch condition while L2/3 neurons integrating touch and locomotion continuously.
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Benoit J, Ruf I, Miyamae JA, Fernandez V, Rodrigues PG, Rubidge BS. The Evolution of the Maxillary Canal in Probainognathia (Cynodontia, Synapsida): Reassessment of the Homology of the Infraorbital Foramen in Mammalian Ancestors. J MAMM EVOL 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s10914-019-09467-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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Abstract
The existence of a synthetic program of research on what was then termed the "nocturnal problem" and that we might now call "nighttime ecology" was declared more than 70 years ago. In reality, this failed to materialize, arguably as a consequence of practical challenges in studying organisms at night and instead concentrating on the existence of circadian rhythms, the mechanisms that give rise to them, and their consequences. This legacy is evident to this day, with consideration of the ecology of the nighttime markedly underrepresented in ecological research and literature. However, several factors suggest that it would be timely to revive the vision of a comprehensive research program in nighttime ecology. These include (i) that the study of the ecology of the night is being revolutionized by new and improved technologies; (ii) suggestions that, far from being a minor component of biodiversity, a high proportion of animal species are active at night; (iii) that fundamental questions about differences and connections between the ecology of the daytime and the nighttime remain largely unanswered; and (iv) that the nighttime environment is coming under severe anthropogenic pressure. In this article, I seek to reestablish nighttime ecology as a synthetic program of research, highlighting key focal topics and questions and providing an overview of the current state of understanding and developments.
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Grant RA, Wong AA, Fertan E, Brown RE. Whisker exploration behaviours in the 5xFAD mouse are affected by sex and retinal degeneration. GENES BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR 2018; 19:e12532. [DOI: 10.1111/gbb.12532] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2018] [Revised: 10/18/2018] [Accepted: 10/19/2018] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Robyn A. Grant
- Division of Biology and Conservation EcologyManchester Metropolitan University Manchester UK
| | - Aimee A. Wong
- Department of Psychology and NeuroscienceDalhousie University Halifax Nova Scotia Canada
| | - Emre Fertan
- Department of Psychology and NeuroscienceDalhousie University Halifax Nova Scotia Canada
| | - Richard E. Brown
- Department of Psychology and NeuroscienceDalhousie University Halifax Nova Scotia Canada
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Muchlinski MN, Wible JR, Corfe I, Sullivan M, Grant RA. Good Vibrations: The Evolution of Whisking in Small Mammals. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2018; 303:89-99. [PMID: 30332721 DOI: 10.1002/ar.23989] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/01/2017] [Accepted: 01/14/2018] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
While most mammals have whiskers, some tactile specialists-mainly small, nocturnal, and arboreal species-can actively move their whiskers in a symmetrical, cyclic movement called whisking. Whisking enables mammals to rapidly, tactually scan their environment to efficiently guide locomotion and foraging in complex habitats. The muscle architecture that enables whisking is preserved from marsupials to primates, prompting researchers to suggest that a common ancestor might have had moveable whiskers. Studying the evolution of whisker touch sensing is difficult, and we suggest that measuring an aspect of skull morphology that correlates with whisking would enable comparisons between extinct and extant mammals. We find that whisking mammals have larger infraorbital foramen (IOF) areas, which indicates larger infraorbital nerves and an increase in sensory acuity. While this relationship is quite variable and IOF area cannot be used to solely predict the presence of whisking, whisking mammals all have large IOF areas. Generally, this pattern holds true regardless of an animal's substrate preferences or activity patterns. Data from fossil mammals and ancestral character state reconstruction and tracing techniques for extant mammals suggest that whisking is not the ancestral state for therian mammals. Instead, whisking appears to have evolved independently as many as seven times across the clades Marsupialia, Afrosoricida, Eulipotyphla, and Rodentia, with Xenarthra the only placental superordinal clade lacking whisking species. However, the term whisking only captures symmetrical and rhythmic movements of the whiskers, rather than all possible whisker movements, and early mammals may still have had moveable whiskers. Anat Rec, 2018. © 2018 American Association for Anatomy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Magdalena N Muchlinski
- Center for Anatomical Sciences, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas
| | - John R Wible
- Section of Mammals, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
| | - Ian Corfe
- Institute of Biotechnology, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Matthew Sullivan
- Division of Biology and Conservation Ecology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
| | - Robyn A Grant
- Division of Biology and Conservation Ecology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
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Projection Patterns of Corticofugal Neurons Associated with Vibrissa Movement. eNeuro 2018; 5:eN-NWR-0190-18. [PMID: 30406196 PMCID: PMC6220590 DOI: 10.1523/eneuro.0190-18.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2018] [Revised: 08/01/2018] [Accepted: 08/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Rodents actively whisk their vibrissae, which, when they come in contact with surrounding objects, enables rodents to gather spatial information about the environment. Cortical motor command of whisking is crucial for the control of vibrissa movement. Using awake and head-fixed rats, we investigated the correlations between axonal projection patterns and firing properties in identified layer 5 neurons in the motor cortex, which are associated with vibrissa movement. We found that cortical neurons that sent axons to the brainstem fired preferentially during large-amplitude vibrissa movements and that corticocallosal neurons exhibited a high firing rate during small vibrissa movements or during a quiet state. The differences between these two corticofugal circuits may be related to the mechanisms of motor-associated information processing.
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Sensation, movement and learning in the absence of barrel cortex. Nature 2018; 561:542-546. [PMID: 30224746 PMCID: PMC6173956 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0527-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/28/2017] [Accepted: 07/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
For many of our senses, the role of the cerebral cortex in detecting stimuli is controversial1–17. Here, we examine the effects of both acute and chronic inactivation of primary somatosensory cortex (S1) in mice trained to move their large facial whiskers to detect an object via touch and respond with a lever to obtain a water reward. Using transgenic animals, we expressed inhibitory opsins in excitatory cortical neurons. Transient optogenetic inactivation of S1, as well as permanent lesions, initially produced both movement and sensory deficits that impaired detection behavior, demonstrating the inextricable link between sensory and motor systems during active sensing. Surprisingly, lesioned mice rapidly recovered full behavioral capabilities by the subsequent session. Recovery was experience-dependent, and early re-exposure to the task after lesion facilitated recovery. Furthermore, primary sensory cortex ablation prior to learning did not affect task acquisition. This combined optogenetic and lesion approach suggests that manipulations of sensory cortex may be only temporarily disruptive to other brain structures, which are themselves capable of coordinating multiple, arbitrary movements with sensation. Thus, the somatosensory cortex may be dispensable for active detection of objects in the environment.
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Grant RA, Breakell V, Prescott TJ. Whisker touch sensing guides locomotion in small, quadrupedal mammals. Proc Biol Sci 2018; 285:20180592. [PMID: 29899069 PMCID: PMC6015872 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.0592] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/15/2018] [Accepted: 05/18/2018] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
All small mammals have prominent facial whiskers that they employ as tactile sensors to guide navigation and foraging in complex habitats. Nocturnal, arboreal mammals tend to have the longest and most densely packed whiskers, and semi-aquatic mammals have the most sensitive. Here we present evidence to indicate that many small mammals use their whiskers to tactually guide safe foot positioning. Specifically, in 11, small, non-flying mammal species, we demonstrate that forepaw placement always falls within the ground contact zone of the whisker field and that forepaw width is always smaller than whisker span. We also demonstrate commonalities of whisker scanning movements (whisking) and elements of active control, associated with increasing contact with objects of interest, across multiple small mammal species that have previously only been shown in common laboratory animals. Overall, we propose that guiding locomotion, alongside environment exploration, is a common function of whisker touch sensing in small, quadrupedal mammals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robyn A Grant
- Division of Biology and Conservation Ecology, Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
| | | | - Tony J Prescott
- Department of Computer Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
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Neural Coding of Whisker-Mediated Touch in Primary Somatosensory Cortex Is Altered Following Early Blindness. J Neurosci 2018; 38:6172-6189. [PMID: 29807911 DOI: 10.1523/jneurosci.0066-18.2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/07/2018] [Revised: 05/20/2018] [Accepted: 05/23/2018] [Indexed: 10/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Sensory systems do not develop and function independently of one another, yet they are typically studied in isolation. Effects of multisensory interactions on the developing neocortex can be revealed by altering the ratios of incoming sensory inputs associated with different modalities. We investigated neural responses in primary somatosensory cortex (S1) of short-tailed opossums (Monodelphis domestica; either sex) after the elimination of visual input through bilateral enucleation very early in development. To assess the influence of tactile experience after vision loss, we also examined naturally occurring patterns of exploratory behavior. In early blind (EB) animals, overall levels of tactile experience were similar to those of sighted controls (SC); locomotor activity was unimpaired and accompanied by whisking. Using extracellular single-unit recording techniques under anesthesia, we found that EB animals exhibited a reduction in the magnitude of neural responses to whisker stimuli in S1, coupled with spatial sharpening of receptive fields, in comparison to SC animals. These alterations manifested as two different effects on sensory processing in S1 of EB animals: the ability of neurons to detect single whisker stimulation was decreased, whereas their ability to discriminate between stimulation of neighboring whiskers was enhanced. The increased selectivity of S1 neurons in EB animals was reflected in improved population decoding performance for whisker stimulus position, particularly along the rostrocaudal axis of the snout, which aligns with the primary axis of natural whisker motion. These findings suggest that a functionally distinct form of somatosensory plasticity occurs when vision is lost early in development.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT After sensory loss, compensatory behavior mediated through the spared senses could be generated entirely through the recruitment of brain areas associated with the deprived sense. Alternatively, functional compensation in spared modalities may be achieved through a combination of plasticity in brain areas corresponding to both spared and deprived sensory modalities. Although activation of neurons in cortex associated with a deprived sense has been described frequently, it is unclear whether this is the only substrate available for compensation or if plasticity within cortical fields corresponding to spared modalities, particularly primary sensory cortices, may also contribute. Here, we demonstrate empirically that early loss of vision alters coding of sensory inputs in primary somatosensory cortex in a manner that supports enhanced tactile discrimination.
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Garland H, Wood NI, Skillings EA, Detloff PJ, Morton AJ, Grant RA. Characterisation of progressive motor deficits in whisker movements in R6/2, Q175 and Hdh knock-in mouse models of Huntington’s disease. J Neurosci Methods 2018; 300:103-111. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2017.04.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2016] [Revised: 04/27/2017] [Accepted: 04/28/2017] [Indexed: 10/19/2022]
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Haridas S, Ganapathi R, Kumar M, Manda K. Whisker dependent responsiveness of C57BL/6J mice to different behavioral test paradigms. Behav Brain Res 2017; 336:51-58. [PMID: 28822693 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2017.08.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2017] [Revised: 07/24/2017] [Accepted: 08/05/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Whisker trimming is very common in C57BL/6J mice. Dewhiskering may lead to an alteration in the thalamocortical connectivity and relevant behavioral functions. Since C57BL/6J is a commonly used strain for neurobehavioral studies, it is important to examine how whisker dependent heterogeneity affects the internal validity of behavioral phenotypes. The present study aimed to investigate the responsiveness of mice to different behavioral test paradigms in the presence or absence of whiskers. We employed two models of whisker deprivation: Acute Whisker Desensitization (AWD) and Chronic Habitual Dewhiskering (CHD). The AWD model blocks whisker sensation by lidocaine application. For CHD model, mice at the age of 12 weeks were carefully scrutinized for presence or absence of whiskers and divided into three groups, the whiskered mice, partially dewhiskered mice and completely dewhiskered mice. The whisker-dependent behavioral functions were assessed using open field test, novel object recognition test, marble burying test and forced swim test. Our results showed that habitual dewhiskering significantly altered the short-term memory and basal anxiety-like functions. Such behavioral alteration due to dewhiskering was significantly different in fully and partially dewhiskered mice, which is indicative of behavioral adaptation to the whisker desensitization. Contrary to CHD, the Acute Whisker Desensitization ameliorated behavioral compulsivity and basal anxiety. Our results suggest that vibrissal desensitization in the mice may lead to changes in their affective and cognitive state. Since, heterogeneity in whisker status may affect behavioral functions, careful inspection of the whisker status of C57BL/6J mice is recommended to increase the reproducibility and reliability of results obtained from behavioral assessments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seenu Haridas
- NeuroBehavior Laboratory, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, Delhi, 110054, India
| | - Ramya Ganapathi
- NeuroBehavior Laboratory, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, Delhi, 110054, India
| | - Mayank Kumar
- NeuroBehavior Laboratory, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, Delhi, 110054, India
| | - Kailash Manda
- NeuroBehavior Laboratory, Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences, Delhi, 110054, India.
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Whisker touch guides canopy exploration in a nocturnal, arboreal rodent, the Hazel dormouse (Muscardinus avellanarius). J Comp Physiol A Neuroethol Sens Neural Behav Physiol 2017; 203:133-142. [DOI: 10.1007/s00359-017-1146-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2016] [Revised: 01/04/2017] [Accepted: 01/06/2017] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
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Grant RA, Delaunay MG, Haidarliu S. Mystacial Whisker Layout and Musculature in the Guinea Pig (Cavia porcellus): A Social, Diurnal Mammal. Anat Rec (Hoboken) 2016; 300:527-536. [DOI: 10.1002/ar.23504] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/18/2016] [Revised: 07/22/2016] [Accepted: 08/24/2016] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Robyn A. Grant
- Conservation, Evolution and Behaviour Research Group, Manchester Metropolitan University; Manchester UK
| | - Mariane G. Delaunay
- Conservation, Evolution and Behaviour Research Group, Manchester Metropolitan University; Manchester UK
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Bushnell M, Umino Y, Solessio E. A system to measure the pupil response to steady lights in freely behaving mice. J Neurosci Methods 2016; 273:74-85. [PMID: 27494989 DOI: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2016.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2015] [Revised: 06/27/2016] [Accepted: 08/02/2016] [Indexed: 01/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Transgenic mice are widely used for the study of basic visual function and retinal disease, including in psychophysical tests. Mice have a robust pupillary light reflex that controls the amount of light that enters the eye, and the attenuating effects of the pupil must be considered during such tests. Measurement of the size of pupils at various luminance levels requires that mice remain stable over prolonged periods of time; however, sedation of mice with anesthesia and/or manual restraint can influence the size of their pupils. NEW METHOD We present a system to measure the pupillary light response to steady lights of freely behaving mice using a custom-built, portable device that automatically acquires close-up images of their eyes. The device takes advantage of the intrinsic nature of mice to inspect objects of interest and can be used to measure pupillary responses in optomotor or operant behavior testing chambers. RESULTS The size of the pupils in freely behaving mice decreased gradually with luminance from a maximal area in the dark of 3.8mm2 down to a minimum 0.14mm2 at 80 scotopic cd/m2. The data was well fit with a Hill equation with Lo equal to 0.21cd/m2 and coefficient h=0.48. COMPARISON WITH EXISTING METHODS These values agree with prior measurements of the pupillary response of unrestrained mice that use more laborious and time consuming approaches. CONCLUSIONS Our new method facilitates practical, straightforward and accurate measurements of pupillary responses made under the same experimental conditions as those used during psychophysical testing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mark Bushnell
- Center for Vision Research and SUNY Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, 750 E. Adams St., Syracuse, New York 13210, USA
| | - Yumiko Umino
- Center for Vision Research and SUNY Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, 750 E. Adams St., Syracuse, New York 13210, USA
| | - Eduardo Solessio
- Center for Vision Research and SUNY Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, SUNY Upstate Medical University, 750 E. Adams St., Syracuse, New York 13210, USA.
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Yang AET, Hartmann MJZ. Whisking Kinematics Enables Object Localization in Head-Centered Coordinates Based on Tactile Information from a Single Vibrissa. Front Behav Neurosci 2016; 10:145. [PMID: 27486390 PMCID: PMC4949211 DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2016.00145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/01/2016] [Accepted: 06/23/2016] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
During active tactile exploration with their whiskers (vibrissae), rodents can rapidly orient to an object even though there are very few proprioceptors in the whisker muscles. Thus a long-standing question in the study of the vibrissal system is how the rat can localize an object in head-centered coordinates without muscle-based proprioception. We used a three-dimensional model of whisker bending to simulate whisking motions against a peg to investigate the possibility that the 3D mechanics of contact from a single whisker are sufficient for localization in head-centered coordinates. Results show that for nearly all whiskers in the array, purely tactile signals at the whisker base - as would be measured by mechanoreceptors, in whisker-centered coordinates - could be used to determine the location of a vertical peg in head-centered coordinates. Both the "roll" and the "elevation" components of whisking kinematics contribute to the uniqueness and resolution of the localization. These results offer an explanation for a behavioral study showing that rats can more accurately determine the horizontal angle of an object if one column, rather than one row, of whiskers is spared.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne E T Yang
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, Evanston IL, USA
| | - Mitra J Z Hartmann
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northwestern University, EvanstonIL, USA; Department of Biomedical Engineering, Northwestern University, EvanstonIL, USA
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40
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Grant RA, Cielen N, Maes K, Heulens N, Galli GL, Janssens W, Gayan-Ramirez G, Degens H. The effects of smoking on whisker movements: A quantitative measure of exploratory behaviour in rodents. Behav Processes 2016; 128:17-23. [DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2016.03.021] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2015] [Revised: 03/30/2016] [Accepted: 03/30/2016] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
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Ramamurthy DL, Krubitzer LA. The evolution of whisker-mediated somatosensation in mammals: Sensory processing in barrelless S1 cortex of a marsupial, Monodelphis domestica. J Comp Neurol 2016; 524:3587-3613. [PMID: 27098555 DOI: 10.1002/cne.24018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2015] [Revised: 04/13/2016] [Accepted: 04/13/2016] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
Movable tactile sensors in the form of whiskers are present in most mammals, but sensory coding in the cortical whisker representation has been studied almost exclusively in mice and rats. Many species that possess whiskers lack the modular "barrel" organization found in the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) of mice and rats, but it is unclear how whisker-related input is represented in these species. We used single-unit extracellular recording techniques to characterize receptive fields and response properties in S1 of Monodelphis domestica (short-tailed opossum), a nocturnal, terrestrial marsupial that shared its last common ancestor with placental mammals over 160 million years ago. Short-tailed opossums lack barrels and septa in S1 but show active whisking behavior similar to that of mice and rats. Most neurons in short-tailed opossum S1 exhibited multiwhisker receptive fields, including a single best whisker (BW) and lower magnitude responses to the deflection of surrounding whiskers. Mean tuning width was similar to that reported for mice and rats. Both symmetrical and asymmetrical receptive fields were present. Neurons tuned to ventral whiskers tended to show broad tuning along the rostrocaudal axis. Thus, despite the absence of barrels, most receptive field properties were similar to those reported for mice and rats. However, unlike those species, S1 neuronal responses to BW and surround whisker deflection showed comparable latencies in short-tailed opossums. This dissimilarity suggests that some aspects of barrel cortex function may not generalize to tactile processing across mammalian species and may be related to differences in the architecture of the whisker-to-cortex pathway. J. Comp. Neurol. 524:3587-3613, 2016. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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Affiliation(s)
- Deepa L Ramamurthy
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, 95618
| | - Leah A Krubitzer
- Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, California, 95618.
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Emergence of functional subnetworks in layer 2/3 cortex induced by sequential spikes in vivo. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016; 113:E1372-81. [PMID: 26903616 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1513410113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
During cortical circuit development in the mammalian brain, groups of excitatory neurons that receive similar sensory information form microcircuits. However, cellular mechanisms underlying cortical microcircuit development remain poorly understood. Here we implemented combined two-photon imaging and photolysis in vivo to monitor and manipulate neuronal activities to study the processes underlying activity-dependent circuit changes. We found that repeated triggering of spike trains in a randomly chosen group of layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons in the somatosensory cortex triggered long-term plasticity of circuits (LTPc), resulting in the increased probability that the selected neurons would fire when action potentials of individual neurons in the group were evoked. Significant firing pattern changes were observed more frequently in the selected group of neurons than in neighboring control neurons, and the induction was dependent on the time interval between spikes, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor activation, and Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) activation. In addition, LTPc was associated with an increase of activity from a portion of neighboring neurons with different probabilities. Thus, our results demonstrate that the formation of functional microcircuits requires broad network changes and that its directionality is nonrandom, which may be a general feature of cortical circuit assembly in the mammalian cortex.
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Schroeder JB, Ritt JT. Selection of head and whisker coordination strategies during goal-oriented active touch. J Neurophysiol 2016; 115:1797-809. [PMID: 26792880 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00465.2015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2015] [Accepted: 01/15/2016] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
In the rodent whisker system, a key model for neural processing and behavioral choices during active sensing, whisker motion is increasingly recognized as only part of a broader motor repertoire employed by rodents during active touch. In particular, recent studies suggest whisker and head motions are tightly coordinated. However, conditions governing the selection and temporal organization of such coordinated sensing strategies remain poorly understood. We videographically reconstructed head and whisker motions of freely moving mice searching for a randomly located rewarded aperture, focusing on trials in which animals appeared to rapidly "correct" their trajectory under tactile guidance. Mice orienting after unilateral contact repositioned their whiskers similarly to previously reported head-turning asymmetry. However, whisker repositioning preceded head turn onsets and was not bilaterally symmetric. Moreover, mice selectively employed a strategy we term contact maintenance, with whisking modulated to counteract head motion and facilitate repeated contacts on subsequent whisks. Significantly, contact maintenance was not observed following initial contact with an aperture boundary, when the mouse needed to make a large corrective head motion to the front of the aperture, but only following contact by the same whisker field with the opposite aperture boundary, when the mouse needed to precisely align its head with the reward spout. Together these results suggest that mice can select from a diverse range of sensing strategies incorporating both knowledge of the task and whisk-by-whisk sensory information and, moreover, suggest the existence of high level control (not solely reflexive) of sensing motions coordinated between multiple body parts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph B Schroeder
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
| | - Jason T Ritt
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
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Sofroniew NJ, Vlasov YA, Hires SA, Freeman J, Svoboda K. Neural coding in barrel cortex during whisker-guided locomotion. eLife 2015; 4. [PMID: 26701910 PMCID: PMC4764557 DOI: 10.7554/elife.12559] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/24/2015] [Accepted: 12/21/2015] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Animals seek out relevant information by moving through a dynamic world, but sensory systems are usually studied under highly constrained and passive conditions that may not probe important dimensions of the neural code. Here, we explored neural coding in the barrel cortex of head-fixed mice that tracked walls with their whiskers in tactile virtual reality. Optogenetic manipulations revealed that barrel cortex plays a role in wall-tracking. Closed-loop optogenetic control of layer 4 neurons can substitute for whisker-object contact to guide behavior resembling wall tracking. We measured neural activity using two-photon calcium imaging and extracellular recordings. Neurons were tuned to the distance between the animal snout and the contralateral wall, with monotonic, unimodal, and multimodal tuning curves. This rich representation of object location in the barrel cortex could not be predicted based on simple stimulus-response relationships involving individual whiskers and likely emerges within cortical circuits. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12559.001 Mice are primarily nocturnal animals that rely on their whiskers to navigate dark underground burrows and winding corridors. When a whisker touches an object, cells called neurons at the base of the whiskers produce electrical signals that are relayed to other neurons in an area of the brain called the barrel cortex. However, it is not clear how information is encoded in these electrical signals, in part, because it is technically challenging to collect data about neuron activity and behavior while the mice move around. To overcome these difficulties, Sofroniew, Vlasov et al. used a touch-based (or 'tactile') virtual reality system to study how mice navigate along corridors. The system simulated the contact the whiskers would have with the walls of a winding corridor. This was achieved by moving the walls with motors while holding the mouse still enough to be able to measure the activity of neurons in the barrel cortex and observe the behavior of the animal. The experiments show that the electrical signals in the barrel cortex encode information about motion as well as the distance between the mouse and the wall. For example, some neurons in the barrel cortex were only activated when a mouse was a particular distance from the walls. The experiments suggest that the barrel cortex processes signals received from several whiskers to build an overall picture of the locations and shapes of objects. Sofroniew, Vlasov et al. also used a technique called optogenetics to deliberately activate particular neurons in a manner that mimics their activity patterns during interactions with walls. In the absence of walls, the optogenetic stimuli guided the behavior of the mice so that they tracked along the paths of 'illusory' corridors. Together, these findings reveal the neural code in the barrel cortex that allows mice to navigate by touch. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.12559.002
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Yurii A Vlasov
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, United States.,IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, New York, United States
| | - Samuel Andrew Hires
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, United States
| | - Jeremy Freeman
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, United States
| | - Karel Svoboda
- Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, United States
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Abstract
Bats are diverse, speciose, and inhabit most of earth’s habitats, aided by powered flapping flight. The many traits that enable flight in these mammals have long attracted popular and research interest, but recent technological and conceptual advances have provided investigators with new kinds of information concerning diverse aspects of flight biology. As a consequence of these new data, our understanding of how bats fly has begun to undergo fundamental changes. Physical and neural science approaches are now beginning to inform understanding of structural architecture of wings. High-speed videography is dramatically expanding documentation of how bats fly. Experimental fluid dynamics and innovative physiological techniques profoundly influence how we interpret the ways bats produce aerodynamic forces as they execute distinctive flight behaviors and the mechanisms that underlie flight energetics. Here, we review how recent bat flight research has provided significant new insights into several important aspects of bat flight structure and function. We suggest that information coming from novel approaches offer opportunities to interconnect studies of wing structure, aerodynamics, and physiology more effectively, and to connect flight biology to newly emerging studies of bat evolution and ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
- S.M. Swartz
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
- School of Engineering, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
| | - N. Konow
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912, USA
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Moore JD, Mercer Lindsay N, Deschênes M, Kleinfeld D. Vibrissa Self-Motion and Touch Are Reliably Encoded along the Same Somatosensory Pathway from Brainstem through Thalamus. PLoS Biol 2015; 13:e1002253. [PMID: 26393890 PMCID: PMC4579082 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1002253] [Citation(s) in RCA: 76] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2014] [Accepted: 08/13/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Active sensing involves the fusion of internally generated motor events with external sensation. For rodents, active somatosensation includes scanning the immediate environment with the mystacial vibrissae. In doing so, the vibrissae may touch an object at any angle in the whisk cycle. The representation of touch and vibrissa self-motion may in principle be encoded along separate pathways, or share a single pathway, from the periphery to cortex. Past studies established that the spike rates in neurons along the lemniscal pathway from receptors to cortex, which includes the principal trigeminal and ventral-posterior-medial thalamic nuclei, are substantially modulated by touch. In contrast, spike rates along the paralemniscal pathway, which includes the rostral spinal trigeminal interpolaris, posteromedial thalamic, and ventral zona incerta nuclei, are only weakly modulated by touch. Here we find that neurons along the lemniscal pathway robustly encode rhythmic whisking on a cycle-by-cycle basis, while encoding along the paralemniscal pathway is relatively poor. Thus, the representations of both touch and self-motion share one pathway. In fact, some individual neurons carry both signals, so that upstream neurons with a supralinear gain function could, in principle, demodulate these signals to recover the known decoding of touch as a function of vibrissa position in the whisk cycle.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey D. Moore
- Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Nicole Mercer Lindsay
- Section of Neurobiology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
| | - Martin Deschênes
- Centre de Recherche Université Laval Robert-Giffard, Québec City, Québec, Canada
| | - David Kleinfeld
- Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
- Section of Neurobiology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, United States of America
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47
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Gauvin DV, Abernathy MM, Tapp RL, Yoder JD, Dalton JA, Baird TJ. The failure to detect drug-induced sensory loss in standard preclinical studies. J Pharmacol Toxicol Methods 2015; 74:53-74. [DOI: 10.1016/j.vascn.2015.05.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2015] [Revised: 05/12/2015] [Accepted: 05/27/2015] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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48
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McGinley MJ, David SV, McCormick DA. Cortical Membrane Potential Signature of Optimal States for Sensory Signal Detection. Neuron 2015; 87:179-92. [PMID: 26074005 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.05.038] [Citation(s) in RCA: 436] [Impact Index Per Article: 48.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2015] [Revised: 05/04/2015] [Accepted: 05/18/2015] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
The neural correlates of optimal states for signal detection task performance are largely unknown. One hypothesis holds that optimal states exhibit tonically depolarized cortical neurons with enhanced spiking activity, such as occur during movement. We recorded membrane potentials of auditory cortical neurons in mice trained on a challenging tone-in-noise detection task while assessing arousal with simultaneous pupillometry and hippocampal recordings. Arousal measures accurately predicted multiple modes of membrane potential activity, including rhythmic slow oscillations at low arousal, stable hyperpolarization at intermediate arousal, and depolarization during phasic or tonic periods of hyper-arousal. Walking always occurred during hyper-arousal. Optimal signal detection behavior and sound-evoked responses, at both sub-threshold and spiking levels, occurred at intermediate arousal when pre-decision membrane potentials were stably hyperpolarized. These results reveal a cortical physiological signature of the classically observed inverted-U relationship between task performance and arousal and that optimal detection exhibits enhanced sensory-evoked responses and reduced background synaptic activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew J McGinley
- Department of Neurobiology, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06510, USA.
| | - Stephen V David
- Oregon Health & Science University, MS: L335A, 3181 SW Sam Jackson Park Rd, OHRC, Portland, OR 97239, USA
| | - David A McCormick
- Department of Neurobiology, Kavli Institute for Neuroscience, Yale University School of Medicine, 333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06510, USA.
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49
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Arakawa H, Erzurumlu RS. Role of whiskers in sensorimotor development of C57BL/6 mice. Behav Brain Res 2015; 287:146-55. [PMID: 25823761 PMCID: PMC4430837 DOI: 10.1016/j.bbr.2015.03.040] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/02/2014] [Revised: 03/19/2015] [Accepted: 03/22/2015] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The mystacial vibrissae (whiskers) of nocturnal rodents play a major role in their sensorimotor behaviors. Relatively little information exists on the role of whiskers during early development. We characterized the contribution of whiskers to sensorimotor development in postnatal C57BL/6 mice. A comparison between intact and whisker-clipped mice in a battery of behavioral tests from postnatal day (P) 4-17 revealed that both male and female pups develop reflexive motor behavior even when the whiskers are clipped. Daily whisker trimming from P3 onwards results in diminished weight gain by P17, and impairment in whisker sensorimotor coordination behaviors, such as cliff avoidance and littermate huddling from P4 to P17, while facilitation of righting reflex at P4 and grasp response at P12. Since active whisker palpation does not start until 2 weeks of age, passive whisker touch during early neonatal stage must play a role in regulating these behaviors. Around the onset of exploratory behaviors (P12) neonatal whisker-clipped pups also display persistent searching movements when they encounter cage walls as a compensatory mechanism of sensorimotor development. Spontaneous whisker motion (whisking) is distinct from respiratory fluttering of whiskers. It is a symmetrical vibration of whiskers at a rate of approximately ∼8 Hz and begins around P10. Oriented, bundled movements of whiskers at higher frequencies of ∼12 Hz during scanning object surfaces, i.e., palpation whisking, emerges at P14. The establishment of locomotive body coordination before eyes open accompanies palpation whisking, indicating an important role in the guidance of exploratory motor behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hiroyuki Arakawa
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
| | - Reha S Erzurumlu
- Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA
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50
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Matthews DW, Deschênes M, Furuta T, Moore JD, Wang F, Karten HJ, Kleinfeld D. Feedback in the brainstem: an excitatory disynaptic pathway for control of whisking. J Comp Neurol 2015; 523:921-42. [PMID: 25503925 DOI: 10.1002/cne.23724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/28/2014] [Revised: 11/03/2014] [Accepted: 12/08/2014] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Sensorimotor processing relies on hierarchical neuronal circuits to mediate sensory-driven behaviors. In the mouse vibrissa system, trigeminal brainstem circuits are thought to mediate the first stage of vibrissa scanning control via sensory feedback that provides reflexive protraction in response to stimulation. However, these circuits are not well defined. Here we describe a complete disynaptic sensory receptor-to-muscle circuit for positive feedback in vibrissa movement. We identified a novel region of trigeminal brainstem, spinal trigeminal nucleus pars muralis, which contains a class of vGluT2+ excitatory projection neurons involved in vibrissa motor control. Complementary single- and dual-labeling with traditional and virus tracers demonstrate that these neurons both receive primary inputs from vibrissa sensory afferent fibers and send monosynaptic connections to facial nucleus motoneurons that directly innervate vibrissa musculature. These anatomical results suggest a general role of disynaptic architecture in fast positive feedback for motor output that drives active sensation.
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Affiliation(s)
- David W Matthews
- Graduate Program in Neuroscience, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA; Department of Physics, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, 92093, USA
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