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Chan PYS, Lee LY, Davenport PW. Neural mechanisms of respiratory interoception. Auton Neurosci 2024; 253:103181. [PMID: 38696917 DOI: 10.1016/j.autneu.2024.103181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2023] [Revised: 04/03/2024] [Accepted: 04/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/04/2024]
Abstract
Respiratory interoception is one of the internal bodily systems that is comprised of different types of somatic and visceral sensations elicited by different patterns of afferent input and respiratory motor drive mediating multiple respiratory modalities. Respiratory interoception is a complex system, having multiple afferents grouped into afferent clusters and projecting into both discriminative and affective centers that are directly related to the behavioral assessment of breathing. The multi-afferent system provides a spectrum of input that result in the ability to interpret the different types of respiratory interceptive sensations. This can result in a response, commonly reported as breathlessness or dyspnea. Dyspnea can be differentiated into specific modalities. These respiratory sensory modalities lead to a general sensation of an Urge-to-Breathe, driven by a need to compensate for the modulation of ventilation that has occurred due to factors that have affected breathing. The multiafferent system for respiratory interoception can also lead to interpretation of the sensory signals resulting in respiratory related sensory experiences, including the Urge-to-Cough and Urge-to-Swallow. These behaviors are modalities that can be driven through the differentiation and integration of multiple afferent input into the respiratory neural comparator. Respiratory sensations require neural somatic and visceral interoceptive elements that include gated attention and detection leading to respiratory modality discrimination with subsequent cognitive decision and behavioral compensation. Studies of brain areas mediating cortical and subcortical respiratory sensory pathways are summarized and used to develop a model of an integrated respiratory neural network mediating respiratory interoception.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pei-Ying Sarah Chan
- Department of Occupational Therapy, College of Medicine, Chang Gung University, Taoyuan, Taiwan; Department of Psychiatry, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital at Linkou, Taoyuan, Taiwan.
| | - Lu-Yuan Lee
- Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA
| | - Paul W Davenport
- Department of Physiological Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA.
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Morris KF, Nuding SC, Segers LS, Iceman KE, O'Connor R, Dean JB, Ott MM, Alencar PA, Shuman D, Horton KK, Taylor-Clark TE, Bolser DC, Lindsey BG. Carotid chemoreceptors tune breathing via multipath routing: reticular chain and loop operations supported by parallel spike train correlations. J Neurophysiol 2017; 119:700-722. [PMID: 29046425 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00630.2017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that carotid chemoreceptors tune breathing through parallel circuit paths that target distinct elements of an inspiratory neuron chain in the ventral respiratory column (VRC). Microelectrode arrays were used to monitor neuronal spike trains simultaneously in the VRC, peri-nucleus tractus solitarius (p-NTS)-medial medulla, the dorsal parafacial region of the lateral tegmental field (FTL-pF), and medullary raphe nuclei together with phrenic nerve activity during selective stimulation of carotid chemoreceptors or transient hypoxia in 19 decerebrate, neuromuscularly blocked, and artificially ventilated cats. Of 994 neurons tested, 56% had a significant change in firing rate. A total of 33,422 cell pairs were evaluated for signs of functional interaction; 63% of chemoresponsive neurons were elements of at least one pair with correlational signatures indicative of paucisynaptic relationships. We detected evidence for postinspiratory neuron inhibition of rostral VRC I-Driver (pre-Bötzinger) neurons, an interaction predicted to modulate breathing frequency, and for reciprocal excitation between chemoresponsive p-NTS neurons and more downstream VRC inspiratory neurons for control of breathing depth. Chemoresponsive pericolumnar tonic expiratory neurons, proposed to amplify inspiratory drive by disinhibition, were correlationally linked to afferent and efferent "chains" of chemoresponsive neurons extending to all monitored regions. The chains included coordinated clusters of chemoresponsive FTL-pF neurons with functional links to widespread medullary sites involved in the control of breathing. The results support long-standing concepts on brain stem network architecture and a circuit model for peripheral chemoreceptor modulation of breathing with multiple circuit loops and chains tuned by tegmental field neurons with quasi-periodic discharge patterns. NEW & NOTEWORTHY We tested the long-standing hypothesis that carotid chemoreceptors tune the frequency and depth of breathing through parallel circuit operations targeting the ventral respiratory column. Responses to stimulation of the chemoreceptors and identified functional connectivity support differential tuning of inspiratory neuron burst duration and firing rate and a model of brain stem network architecture incorporating tonic expiratory "hub" neurons regulated by convergent neuronal chains and loops through rostral lateral tegmental field neurons with quasi-periodic discharge patterns.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kendall F Morris
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida , Tampa, Florida
| | - Sarah C Nuding
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida , Tampa, Florida
| | - Lauren S Segers
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida , Tampa, Florida
| | - Kimberly E Iceman
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida , Tampa, Florida
| | - Russell O'Connor
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida , Tampa, Florida
| | - Jay B Dean
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida , Tampa, Florida
| | - Mackenzie M Ott
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida , Tampa, Florida
| | - Pierina A Alencar
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida , Tampa, Florida
| | - Dale Shuman
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida , Tampa, Florida
| | - Kofi-Kermit Horton
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida , Tampa, Florida
| | - Thomas E Taylor-Clark
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida , Tampa, Florida
| | - Donald C Bolser
- Department of Physiological Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida , Gainesville, Florida
| | - Bruce G Lindsey
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida , Tampa, Florida
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Beltrán-Castillo S, Morgado-Valle C, Eugenín J. The Onset of the Fetal Respiratory Rhythm: An Emergent Property Triggered by Chemosensory Drive? ADVANCES IN EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE AND BIOLOGY 2017; 1015:163-192. [PMID: 29080027 DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-62817-2_10] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
The mechanisms responsible for the onset of respiratory activity during fetal life are unknown. The onset of respiratory rhythm may be a consequence of the genetic program of each of the constituents of the respiratory network, so they start to interact and generate respiratory cycles when reaching a certain degree of maturation. Alternatively, generation of cycles might require the contribution of recently formed sensory inputs that will trigger oscillatory activity in the nascent respiratory neural network. If this hypothesis is true, then sensory input to the respiratory generator must be already formed and become functional before the onset of fetal respiration. In this review, we evaluate the timing of the onset of the respiratory rhythm in comparison to the appearance of receptors, neurotransmitter machinery, and afferent projections provided by two central chemoreceptive nuclei, the raphe and locus coeruleus nuclei.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sebastián Beltrán-Castillo
- Laboratorio de Sistemas Neurales, Facultad de Química y Biología, Departamento de Biología, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, USACH, PO 9170022, Santiago, Chile
| | - Consuelo Morgado-Valle
- Centro de Investigaciones Cerebrales, Universidad Veracruzana, Campus Xalapa, Berlin 7, Fracc., Monte Magno Animas, C.P. 91190, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.
| | - Jaime Eugenín
- Laboratorio de Sistemas Neurales, Facultad de Química y Biología, Departamento de Biología, Universidad de Santiago de Chile, USACH, PO 9170022, Santiago, Chile.
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Segers LS, Nuding SC, Ott MM, Dean JB, Bolser DC, O'Connor R, Morris KF, Lindsey BG. Peripheral chemoreceptors tune inspiratory drive via tonic expiratory neuron hubs in the medullary ventral respiratory column network. J Neurophysiol 2014; 113:352-68. [PMID: 25343784 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00542.2014] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Models of brain stem ventral respiratory column (VRC) circuits typically emphasize populations of neurons, each active during a particular phase of the respiratory cycle. We have proposed that "tonic" pericolumnar expiratory (t-E) neurons tune breathing during baroreceptor-evoked reductions and central chemoreceptor-evoked enhancements of inspiratory (I) drive. The aims of this study were to further characterize the coordinated activity of t-E neurons and test the hypothesis that peripheral chemoreceptors also modulate drive via inhibition of t-E neurons and disinhibition of their inspiratory neuron targets. Spike trains of 828 VRC neurons were acquired by multielectrode arrays along with phrenic nerve signals from 22 decerebrate, vagotomized, neuromuscularly blocked, artificially ventilated adult cats. Forty-eight of 191 t-E neurons fired synchronously with another t-E neuron as indicated by cross-correlogram central peaks; 32 of the 39 synchronous pairs were elements of groups with mutual pairwise correlations. Gravitational clustering identified fluctuations in t-E neuron synchrony. A network model supported the prediction that inhibitory populations with spike synchrony reduce target neuron firing probabilities, resulting in offset or central correlogram troughs. In five animals, stimulation of carotid chemoreceptors evoked changes in the firing rates of 179 of 240 neurons. Thirty-two neuron pairs had correlogram troughs consistent with convergent and divergent t-E inhibition of I cells and disinhibitory enhancement of drive. Four of 10 t-E neurons that responded to sequential stimulation of peripheral and central chemoreceptors triggered 25 cross-correlograms with offset features. The results support the hypothesis that multiple afferent systems dynamically tune inspiratory drive in part via coordinated t-E neurons.
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Affiliation(s)
- L S Segers
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; and
| | - S C Nuding
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; and
| | - M M Ott
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; and
| | - J B Dean
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; and
| | - D C Bolser
- Department of Physiological Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida
| | - R O'Connor
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; and
| | - K F Morris
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; and
| | - B G Lindsey
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida; and
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Poliacek I, Jakus J, Simera M, Veternik M, Plevkova J. Control of coughing by medullary raphé. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2014; 212:277-95. [DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-444-63488-7.00014-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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Molkov YI, Zoccal DB, Baekey DM, Abdala APL, Machado BH, Dick TE, Paton JFR, Rybak IA. Physiological and pathophysiological interactions between the respiratory central pattern generator and the sympathetic nervous system. PROGRESS IN BRAIN RESEARCH 2014; 212:1-23. [PMID: 25194190 DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-444-63488-7.00001-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Respiratory modulation seen in the sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) implies that the respiratory and sympathetic networks interact. During hypertension elicited by chronic intermittent hypoxia (CIH), the SNA displays an enhanced respiratory modulation reflecting strengthened interactions between the networks. In this chapter, we review a series of experimental and modeling studies that help elucidate possible mechanisms of sympatho-respiratory coupling. We conclude that this coupling significantly contributes to both the sympathetic baroreflex and the augmented sympathetic activity after exposure to CIH. This conclusion is based on the following findings. (1) Baroreceptor activation results in perturbation of the respiratory pattern via transient activation of postinspiratory neurons in the Bötzinger complex (BötC). The same BötC neurons are involved in the respiratory modulation of SNA, and hence provide an additional pathway for the sympathetic baroreflex. (2) Under hypercapnia, phasic activation of abdominal motor nerves (AbN) is accompanied by synchronous discharges in SNA due to the common source of this rhythmic activity in the retrotrapezoid nucleus (RTN). CIH conditioning increases the CO2 sensitivity of central chemoreceptors in the RTN which results in the emergence of AbN and SNA discharges under normocapnic conditions similar to those observed during hypercapnia in naïve animals. Thus, respiratory-sympathetic interactions play an important role in defining sympathetic output and significantly contribute to the sympathetic activity and hypertension under certain physiological or pathophysiological conditions, and the theoretical framework presented may be instrumental in understanding of malfunctioning control of sympathetic activity in a variety of disease states.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaroslav I Molkov
- Department of Mathematical Sciences, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, IN, USA.
| | - Daniel B Zoccal
- Department of Physiology and Pathology, Dentistry School of Araraquara, São Paulo State University, Araraquara, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - David M Baekey
- Department of Physiological Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, USA
| | - Ana P L Abdala
- School of Physiology and Pharmacology, Bristol Heart Institute, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Benedito H Machado
- Department of Physiology, School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Thomas E Dick
- Departments of Medicine and Neurosciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA
| | - Julian F R Paton
- School of Physiology and Pharmacology, Bristol Heart Institute, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
| | - Ilya A Rybak
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA
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Contribution of medullary raphé to control of coughing—Codeine trials in cat. Respir Physiol Neurobiol 2012; 184:106-12. [DOI: 10.1016/j.resp.2012.08.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2012] [Revised: 07/16/2012] [Accepted: 08/10/2012] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
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Poliacek I, Morris KF, Lindsey BG, Segers LS, Rose MJ, Corrie LWC, Wang C, Pitts TE, Davenport PW, Bolser DC. Blood pressure changes alter tracheobronchial cough: computational model of the respiratory-cough network and in vivo experiments in anesthetized cats. J Appl Physiol (1985) 2011; 111:861-73. [PMID: 21719729 PMCID: PMC3174787 DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00458.2011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2011] [Accepted: 06/27/2011] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
We tested the hypothesis, motivated in part by a coordinated computational cough network model, that alterations of mean systemic arterial blood pressure (BP) influence the excitability and motor pattern of cough. Model simulations predicted suppression of coughing by stimulation of arterial baroreceptors. In vivo experiments were conducted on anesthetized spontaneously breathing cats. Cough was elicited by mechanical stimulation of the intrathoracic airways. Electromyograms (EMG) of inspiratory parasternal, expiratory abdominal, laryngeal posterior cricoarytenoid (PCA), and thyroarytenoid muscles along with esophageal pressure (EP) and BP were recorded. Transiently elevated BP significantly reduced cough number, cough-related inspiratory, and expiratory amplitudes of EP, peak parasternal and abdominal EMG, and maximum of PCA EMG during the expulsive phase of cough, and prolonged the cough inspiratory and expiratory phases as well as cough cycle duration compared with control coughs. Latencies from the beginning of stimulation to the onset of cough-related diaphragm and abdominal activities were increased. Increases in BP also elicited bradycardia and isocapnic bradypnea. Reductions in BP increased cough number; elevated inspiratory EP amplitude and parasternal, abdominal, and inspiratory PCA EMG amplitudes; decreased total cough cycle duration; shortened the durations of the cough expiratory phase and cough-related abdominal discharge; and shortened cough latency compared with control coughs. Reduced BP also produced tachycardia, tachypnea, and hypocapnic hyperventilation. These effects of BP on coughing likely originate from interactions between barosensitive and respiratory brainstem neuronal networks, particularly by modulation of respiratory neurons within multiple respiration/cough-related brainstem areas by baroreceptor input.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan Poliacek
- Dept. of Physiological Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, Univ. of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
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Ott MM, Nuding SC, Segers LS, Lindsey BG, Morris KF. Ventrolateral medullary functional connectivity and the respiratory and central chemoreceptor-evoked modulation of retrotrapezoid-parafacial neurons. J Neurophysiol 2011; 105:2960-75. [PMID: 21389310 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00262.2010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The medullary ventral respiratory column (VRC) of neurons is essential for respiratory motor pattern generation; however, the functional connections among these cells are not well understood. A rostral extension of the VRC, including the retrotrapezoid nucleus/parafacial region (RTN-pF), contains neurons responsive to local perturbations of CO(2)/pH. We addressed the hypothesis that both local RTN-pF interactions and functional connections from more caudal VRC compartments--extending from the Bötzinger and pre-Bötzinger complexes to the ventral respiratory group (Böt-VRG)--influence the respiratory modulation of RTN-pF neurons and their responses to central chemoreceptor and baroreflex activation. Spike trains from 294 RTN-pF and 490 Böt-VRG neurons were monitored with multielectrode arrays along with phrenic nerve activity in 14 decerebrate, vagotomized cats. Overall, 214 RTN-pF and 398 Böt-VRG neurons were respiratory modulated; 124 and 95, respectively, were cardiac modulated. Subsets of these neurons were tested with sequential, selective, transient stimulation of central chemoreceptors and arterial baroreceptors; each cell's response was evaluated and categorized according to the change in firing rate (if any) following the stimulus. Cross-correlation analysis was applied to 2,884 RTN-pF↔RTN-pF and 8,490 Böt-VRG↔RTN-pF neuron pairs. In total, 174 RTN-pF neurons (59.5%) had significant features in short-time scale correlations with other RTN-pF neurons. Of these, 49 neurons triggered cross-correlograms with offset peaks or troughs (n = 99) indicative of paucisynaptic excitation or inhibition of the target. Forty-nine Böt-VRG neurons (10.0%) were triggers in 74 Böt-VRG→RTN-pF correlograms with offset features, suggesting that Böt-VRG trigger neurons influence RTN-pF target neurons. The results support the hypothesis that local RTN-pF neuron interactions and inputs from Böt-VRG neurons jointly contribute to respiratory modulation of RTN-pF neuronal discharge patterns and promotion or limitation of their responses to central chemoreceptor and baroreceptor stimulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mackenzie M Ott
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology and Neuroscience Program, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, Florida 33612-4799, USA
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Baekey DM, Molkov YI, Paton JFR, Rybak IA, Dick TE. Effect of baroreceptor stimulation on the respiratory pattern: insights into respiratory-sympathetic interactions. Respir Physiol Neurobiol 2010; 174:135-45. [PMID: 20837166 DOI: 10.1016/j.resp.2010.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 72] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2010] [Revised: 08/26/2010] [Accepted: 09/07/2010] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Sympathetic nerve activity (SNA) is modulated by respiratory activity which indicates the existence of direct interactions between the respiratory and sympathetic networks within the brainstem. Our experimental studies reveal that T(E) prolongation evoked by baroreceptor stimulation varies with respiratory phase and depends on the pons. We speculate that the sympathetic baroreceptor reflex, providing negative feedback from baroreceptors to the rostral ventrolateral medulla and SNA, has two pathways: one direct and independent of the respiratory-sympathetic interactions and the other operating via the respiratory pattern generator and is hence dependent on the respiratory modulation of SNA. Our experimental studies in the perfused in situ rat preparation and complementary computational modelling studies support the hypothesis that baroreceptor activation during expiration prolongs the T(E) via transient activation of post-inspiratory and inhibition of augmenting expiratory neurones of the Bötzinger Complex (BötC). We propose that these BötC neurones are also involved in the respiratory modulation of SNA, and contribute to the respiratory modulation of the sympathetic baroreceptor reflex.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M Baekey
- Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, Department of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-5067, USA.
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Zhu YJ, Lu TJ. A multi-scale view of skin thermal pain: from nociception to pain sensation. PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. SERIES A, MATHEMATICAL, PHYSICAL, AND ENGINEERING SCIENCES 2010; 368:521-559. [PMID: 20047938 DOI: 10.1098/rsta.2009.0234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
All biological bodies live in a thermal environment, including the human body, where skin is the interface with a protecting function. When the temperature is out of the normal physiological range, skin fails to protect, and the pain sensation is evoked. Furthermore, in medicine, with advances in laser, microwave and similar technologies, various thermal therapeutic methods have been widely used to cure disease/injury involving skin tissue. However, the corresponding problem of pain relief has limited further application and development of these thermal treatments. Skin thermal pain is induced through both direct (i.e. an increase/decrease in temperature) and indirect (e.g. thermomechanical and thermochemical) ways, and is governed by complicated thermomechanical-chemical-neurophysiological responses. However, a complete understanding of the underlying mechanisms is still far from clear. In this article, starting from an engineering perspective, we aim to recast the biological behaviour of skin in engineering system parlance. Then, by coupling the concepts of engineering with established methods in neuroscience, we attempt to establish multi-scale modelling of skin thermal pain through ion channel to pain sensation. The model takes into account skin morphological plausibility, the thermomechanical response of skin tissue and the biophysical and neurological mechanisms of pain sensation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y J Zhu
- Stomatological Hospital, College of Medicine, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an 710049, People's Republic of China
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Nuding SC, Segers LS, Shannon R, O'Connor R, Morris KF, Lindsey BG. Central and peripheral chemoreceptors evoke distinct responses in simultaneously recorded neurons of the raphé-pontomedullary respiratory network. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2009; 364:2501-16. [PMID: 19651652 PMCID: PMC2865126 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2009.0075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The brainstem network for generating and modulating the respiratory motor pattern includes neurons of the medullary ventrolateral respiratory column (VRC), dorsolateral pons (PRG) and raphé nuclei. Midline raphé neurons are proposed to be elements of a distributed brainstem system of central chemoreceptors, as well as modulators of central chemoreceptors at other sites, including the retrotrapezoid nucleus. Stimulation of the raphé system or peripheral chemoreceptors can induce a long-term facilitation of phrenic nerve activity; central chemoreceptor stimulation does not. The network mechanisms through which each class of chemoreceptor differentially influences breathing are poorly understood. Microelectrode arrays were used to monitor sets of spike trains from 114 PRG, 198 VRC and 166 midline neurons in six decerebrate vagotomized cats; 356 were recorded during sequential stimulation of both receptor classes via brief CO(2)-saturated saline injections in vertebral (central) and carotid arteries (peripheral). Seventy neurons responded to both stimuli. More neurons were responsive only to peripheral challenges than those responsive only to central chemoreceptor stimulation (PRG, 20 : 4; VRC, 41 : 10; midline, 25 : 13). Of 16 474 pairs of neurons evaluated for short-time scale correlations, similar percentages of reference neurons in each brain region had correlation features indicative of a specific interaction with at least one target neuron: PRG (59.6%), VRC (51.0%) and raphé nuclei (45.8%). The results suggest a brainstem network architecture with connectivity that shapes the respiratory motor pattern via overlapping circuits that modulate central and peripheral chemoreceptor-mediated influences on breathing.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | | | - Bruce G. Lindsey
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology and Neuroscience Program, School of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of South Florida, 12901 Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, Tampa, FL 33612-4799, USA
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Nuding SC, Segers LS, Baekey DM, Dick TE, Solomon IC, Shannon R, Morris KF, Lindsey BG. Pontine-ventral respiratory column interactions through raphe circuits detected using multi-array spike train recordings. J Neurophysiol 2009; 101:2943-60. [PMID: 19297509 DOI: 10.1152/jn.91305.2008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Recently, Segers et al. identified functional connectivity between the ventrolateral respiratory column (VRC) and the pontine respiratory group (PRG). The apparent sparseness of detected paucisynaptic interactions motivated consideration of other potential functional pathways between these two regions. We report here evidence for "indirect" serial functional linkages between the PRG and VRC via intermediary brain stem midline raphé neurons. Arrays of microelectrodes were used to record sets of spike trains from a total of 145 PRG, 282 VRC, and 340 midline neurons in 11 decerebrate, vagotomized, neuromuscularly blocked, ventilated cats. Spike trains of 13,843 pairs of neurons that included at least one raphé cell were screened for respiratory modulation and short-time scale correlations. Significant correlogram features were detected in 7.2% of raphé-raphé (291/4,021), 4.3% of VRC-raphé (292/6,755), and 4.0% of the PRG-raphé (124/3,067) neuron pairs. Central peaks indicative of shared influences were the most common feature in correlations between pairs of raphé neurons, whereas correlated raphé-PRG and raphé-VRC neuron pairs displayed predominantly offset peaks and troughs, features suggesting a paucisynaptic influence of one neuron on the other. Overall, offset correlogram features provided evidence for 33 VRC-to-raphé-to-PRG and 45 PRG-to-raphé-to-VRC correlational linkage chains with one or two intermediate raphé neurons. The results support a respiratory network architecture with parallel VRC-to-PRG and PRG-to-VRC links operating through intervening midline circuits, and suggest that raphé neurons contribute to the respiratory modulation of PRG neurons and shape the respiratory motor pattern through coordinated divergent actions on both the PRG and VRC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah C Nuding
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa, Florida 33612-4799, USA.
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Stimulation of the rat medullary raphe nuclei induces differential responses in respiratory muscle activity. Respir Physiol Neurobiol 2009; 165:208-14. [DOI: 10.1016/j.resp.2008.12.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2008] [Revised: 12/09/2008] [Accepted: 12/10/2008] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
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Segers LS, Nuding SC, Dick TE, Shannon R, Baekey DM, Solomon IC, Morris KF, Lindsey BG. Functional connectivity in the pontomedullary respiratory network. J Neurophysiol 2008; 100:1749-69. [PMID: 18632881 PMCID: PMC2576196 DOI: 10.1152/jn.90414.2008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2008] [Accepted: 07/11/2008] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Current models propose that a neuronal network in the ventrolateral medulla generates the basic respiratory rhythm and that this ventrolateral respiratory column (VRC) is profoundly influenced by the neurons of the pontine respiratory group (PRG). However, functional connectivity among PRG and VRC neurons is poorly understood. This study addressed four model-based hypotheses: 1) the respiratory modulation of PRG neuron populations reflects paucisynaptic actions of multiple VRC populations; 2) functional connections among PRG neurons shape and coordinate their respiratory-modulated activities; 3) the PRG acts on multiple VRC populations, contributing to phase-switching; and 4) neurons with no respiratory modulation located in close proximity to the VRC and PRG have widely distributed actions on respiratory-modulated cells. Two arrays of microelectrodes with individual depth adjustment were used to record sets of spike trains from a total of 145 PRG and 282 VRC neurons in 10 decerebrate, vagotomized, neuromuscularly blocked, ventilated cats. Data were evaluated for respiratory modulation with respect to efferent phrenic motoneuron activity and short-timescale correlations indicative of paucisynaptic functional connectivity using cross-correlation analysis and the "gravity" method. Correlogram features were found for 109 (3%) of the 3,218 pairs composed of a PRG and a VRC neuron, 126 (12%) of the 1,043 PRG-PRG pairs, and 319 (7%) of the 4,340 VRC-VRC neuron pairs evaluated. Correlation linkage maps generated for the data support our four motivating hypotheses and suggest network mechanisms for proposed modulatory functions of the PRG.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lauren S Segers
- Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of South Florida College of Medicine, 12901 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa, FL 33612-4799, USA
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16
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Interactions between auditory and somatosensory feedback for voice F0 control. Exp Brain Res 2008; 187:613-21. [PMID: 18340440 DOI: 10.1007/s00221-008-1330-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 90] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2007] [Accepted: 02/18/2008] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of both kinesthetic and auditory feedback for control of voice fundamental frequency (F0). In the present study, a possible interaction between auditory feedback and kinesthetic feedback for control of voice F0 was tested by administering local anesthetic to the vocal folds in the presence of perturbations in voice pitch feedback. Responses to pitch-shifted voice feedback were larger when the vocal fold mucosa was anesthetized than during normal kinesthesia. A mathematical model incorporating a linear combination of kinesthesia and pitch feedback simulated the main aspects of our experimental results. This model indicates that a feasible explanation for the increase in response magnitude with vocal fold anesthesia is that the vocal motor system uses both pitch and kinesthesia to stabilize voice F0 shortly after a perturbation of voice pitch feedback has been perceived.
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17
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Tzeng YC, Larsen PD, Galletly DC. Mechanism of cardioventilatory coupling: insights from cardiac pacing, vagotomy, and sinoaortic denervation in the anesthetized rat. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2006; 292:H1967-77. [PMID: 17172271 DOI: 10.1152/ajpheart.01049.2006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Cardioventilatory coupling (CVC), a temporal alignment between the heartbeat and inspiratory activity, is a major determinant of breath-to-breath variation in observed respiratory rate (f(o)). The cardiac-trigger hypothesis attributes this to adjustments of respiratory timing by baroreceptor afferent impulses to the central respiratory pattern generator. A mathematical model of this hypothesis indicates that apparent CVC in graphical plots of ECG R wave vs. inspiratory time is dependent on the heart rate (HR), the rate of the intrinsic respiratory oscillator (f(i)), and the strength of the hypothetical cardiovascular afferent impulse. Failure to account for HR and f(i) may explain the inconsistent results from previous attempts to identify the neural pathways involved in CVC. Cognizant of these interactions, we factored in the HR-to-f(i) ratio in our examination of the role of the vagus nerve and arterial baroreceptors in CVC by cardiac pacing 29 anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats and incrementally changing the HR. With the assumption of a relatively constant f(i), CVC could be examined across a range of HR-to-f(o) ratios before and after vagotomy, sinoaortic denervation, and vagotomy + sinoaortic denervation. We confirmed the relation between CVC, HR-to-f(o) ratio, and breath-to-breath respiratory period variability and demonstrated the loss of these relations after baroreceptor elimination. Sham experiments (n = 8) showed that these changes were not due to surgical stress. Our data support the notion that inspiratory timing can be influenced by cardiac afferent activity. We conclude that the putative cardiovascular input arises from the arterial baroreceptors and that the vagus nerve is not critical for CVC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Y C Tzeng
- Department of Surgery and Anaesthesia, Wellington School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Wellington, New Zealand.
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18
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Sood S, Morrison JL, Liu H, Horner RL. Role of Endogenous Serotonin in Modulating Genioglossus Muscle Activity in Awake and Sleeping Rats. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2005; 172:1338-47. [PMID: 16020803 DOI: 10.1164/rccm.200502-258oc] [Citation(s) in RCA: 94] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
RATIONALE Exogenous serotonin at the hypoglossal motor nucleus (HMN) stimulates genioglossus (GG) muscle activity. However, whether endogenous serotonin contributes to GG activation across natural sleep-wake states has not been determined, but is relevant given that serotonergic neurons have decreased activity in sleep and project to pharyngeal motoneurons. OBJECTIVES To determine the role of endogenous serotonin at the HMN in modulating GG activity across natural sleep-wake states. METHODS Ten rats were implanted with electroencephalogram and neck muscle electrodes to record sleep-wake states, and GG and diaphragm wires for respiratory muscle recordings. Microdialysis probes were implanted into the HMN for perfusion of artificial cerebrospinal fluid and the serotonin receptor antagonist mianserin (100 microM). MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS In room air, there was no effect of mianserin on respiratory-related or tonic GG activities across sleep-wake states (p > 0.300). In hypercapnia, however, the normal declines in GG activity from non-REM to REM sleep, and wakefulness to REM sleep, were reduced with mianserin (p < 0.005). These data demonstrate a normally low endogenous serotonergic drive modulating GG activity unless augmented by reflex inputs. We also demonstrated a significant serotonergic drive modulating GG activity in vagotomized rats, but not in vagi-intact rats, under anesthesia, suggesting that previous results in reduced preparations may have been influenced by vagotomy. CONCLUSIONS The results show a minimal endogenous serotonergic drive at the HMN modulating GG activity across sleep-wake states, unless augmented by reflex inputs. This result has implications for pharmacologic strategies aiming to increase GG activity by manipulating endogenous serotonin in patients with obstructive sleep apnea.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sandeep Sood
- Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
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19
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Dick TE, Shannon R, Lindsey BG, Nuding SC, Segers LS, Baekey DM, Morris KF. Arterial pulse modulated activity is expressed in respiratory neural output. J Appl Physiol (1985) 2005; 99:691-8. [PMID: 15761086 DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.01124.2004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
Although it is well-established that sympathetic activity is modulated with respiration, it is unknown whether neural control of respiration is reciprocally influenced by cardiovascular function. Even though previous studies have suggested the existence of pulse modulation in respiratory neurons, they could not exclude the possibility that such cells were involved in cardiovascular rather than respiratory motor control, owing to neuroanatomic and functional overlaps between brain stem neurons involved in respiratory and cardiovascular control. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that respiratory motoneurons and putative premotoneurons are modulated by arterial pulse. An existing data set composed of 72 well-characterized, respiratory-modulated brain stem motoneurons and putative premotoneurons was analyzed using delta(2), a recently described statistic that quantifies the magnitude of arterial pulse-modulated spike activity [Dick TE and Morris KF. J Physiol 556: 959-970, 2004]. Neuronal activity was recorded in the rostral and caudal ventral respiratory groups of 19 decerebrate, neuromuscular-blocked, ventilated cats. Axonal projections were identified by rectified and unrectified spike-triggered averages of recurrent laryngeal nerve activity or by antidromic activation from spinal stimulation electrodes. The firing rates of approximately 30% of these neurons were modulated in phase with both the respiratory and cardiac cycles. Furthermore, arterial pulse modulation occurred preferentially in the expiratory phase in that only expiratory neurons had high delta(2) values and only expiratory activity had significant delta(2) values after partitioning tonic activity into the inspiratory and expiratory phases. The results demonstrate that both respiratory motoneurons and putative premotoneuronal activity can be pulse modulated. We conclude that a cardiac cycle-related modulation is expressed in respiratory motor activity, complementing the long-recognized respiratory modulation of sympathetic nerve activity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas E Dick
- Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Dept. of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Biomedical Research Bldg. BRB B55, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106-4941, USA.
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20
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Abstract
We propose the 'delta(2)-statistic' for assessing the magnitude and statistical significance of arterial pulse-modulated activity of single neurones and present the results of applying this tool to medullary respiratory-modulated units. This analytical tool is a modification of the eta(2)-statistic and, consequently, based on the analysis of variance. The eta(2)-statistic reflects the consistency of respiratory-modulated activity on a cycle-by-cycle basis. However, directly applying this test to activity during the cardiac cycle proved ineffective because subjects-by-treatments matrices did not contain enough 'information'. We increased information by dividing the cardiac cycle into fewer bins, excluding cycles without activity and summing activity over multiple cycles. The analysed neuronal activity was an existing data set examining the neural control of respiration and cough. Neurones were recorded in the nuclei of the solitary tracts, and in the rostral and caudal ventral respiratory groups of decerebrate, neuromuscularly blocked, ventilated cats (n= 19). Two hundred of 246 spike trains were respiratory modulated; of these 53% were inspiratory (I), 36.5% expiratory (E), 6% IE phase spanning and 4.5% EI phase spanning and responsive to airway stimulation. Nearly half (n= 96/200) of the respiratory-modulated units were significantly pulse modulated and 13 were highly modulated with delta(2) values exceeding 0.3. In 10 of these highly modulated units, eta(2) values were greater than 0.3 and all 13 had, at least, a portion of their activity during expiration. We conclude that cardiorespiratory interaction is reciprocal; in addition to respiratory-modulated activity in a subset of neuronal activity patterns controlling the cardiovascular system, pulse-modulated activity exists in a subset of neuronal activity patterns controlling the respiratory system. Thus, cardio-ventilatory coupling apparent in respiratory motor output is evident and, perhaps, derived from the neural substrate driving that output.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas E Dick
- Department of Medicine, University Hospitals Research Institute, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106-4941, USA.
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21
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Baekey DM, Morris KF, Nuding SC, Segers LS, Lindsey BG, Shannon R. Medullary raphe neuron activity is altered during fictive cough in the decerebrate cat. J Appl Physiol (1985) 2003; 94:93-100. [PMID: 12486018 DOI: 10.1152/japplphysiol.00341.2002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Chemical lesions in the medullary raphe nuclei region influence cough. This study examined whether firing patterns of caudal medullary midline neurons were altered during cough. Extracellular neuron activity was recorded with microelectrode arrays in decerebrated, neuromuscular-blocked, ventilated cats. Cough-like motor patterns (fictive cough) in phrenic and lumbar nerves were elicited by mechanical stimulation of the intrathoracic trachea. Discharge patterns of respiratory and nonrespiratory-modulated neurons were altered during cough cycles (58/133); 45 increased and 13 decreased activity. Fourteen cells changed firing rate during the inspiratory and/or expiratory phases of cough. Altered patterns in 43 cells were associated with the duration of, or extended beyond, the cough episodes. The different response categories suggest that multiple factors influence the discharge patterns during coughing: e.g., respiratory-modulated and tonic inputs and intrinsic connections. These results suggest involvement of midline neurons (i.e., raphe nuclei) in the cough reflex.
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Affiliation(s)
- David M Baekey
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of South Florida Health Sciences Center, Tampa 33612-4799, USA
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22
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Gamboa-Esteves FO, Tavares I, Almeida A, Batten TF, McWilliam PN, Lima D. Projection sites of superficial and deep spinal dorsal horn cells in the nucleus tractus solitarii of the rat. Brain Res 2001; 921:195-205. [PMID: 11720726 DOI: 10.1016/s0006-8993(01)03118-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
Abstract
By using anterograde transport of biotin dextran amine injected into the cervical spinal dorsal horn, we have shown that fibres from superficial and deep dorsal horn project to the nucleus tractus solitarii via two distinct pathways. Afferent fibres from the superficial lamina (I-III) were found to course in the dorsal funiculus and terminate bilaterally in the caudal zone of the nucleus tractus solitarii (NTS), mainly within the commissural subnucleus. In contrast, afferents from the deeper dorsal horn laminae (IV-V) were found to course in the dorsolateral fasciculus and terminate ipsilaterally, mostly in the lateral areas of the caudal nucleus tractus solitarii. Similar, but more extensive patterns of labelled fibres were produced by injections into the white matter of the dorsal funiculus and dorsolateral fasciculus, respectively. These observations suggest that the caudal NTS not only serves as a location of visceral afferent convergence and integration, but may also be a receptive area for monosynaptic projections from dorsal horn neurons receiving sensory afferent inputs. Such projections may represent pathways through which NTS neurons are influenced by nociceptive and non-nociceptive information from the dorsal horn and thereby can co-ordinate the appropriate autonomic response, including adjustments in cardiorespiratory reflex output.
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Affiliation(s)
- F O Gamboa-Esteves
- Institute for Cardiovascular Research, School of Medicine, Worsley Building, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK
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23
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Abstract
Central pattern generators are neuronal circuits that when activated can produce rhythmic motor patterns such as walking, breathing, flying, and swimming in the absence of sensory or descending inputs that carry specific timing information. General principles of the organization of these circuits and their control by higher brain centers have come from the study of smaller circuits found in invertebrates. Recent work on vertebrates highlights the importance of neuro-modulatory control pathways in enabling spinal cord and brain stem circuits to generate meaningful motor patterns. Because rhythmic motor patterns are easily quantified and studied, central pattern generators will provide important testing grounds for understanding the effects of numerous genetic mutations on behavior. Moreover, further understanding of the modulation of spinal cord circuitry used in rhythmic behaviors should facilitate the development of new treatments to enhance recovery after spinal cord damage.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Marder
- Volen Center, MS 013, Brandeis University, 415 South Street, Waltham, Massachusetts 02454-9110, USA.
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24
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Abstract
This review describes results from in vivo experiments on brain stem network mechanisms that control breathing. Multi-array recording technology and computational methods were used to test predictions derived from simulations of respiratory network models. This highly efficient approach has the advantage that many simultaneously recorded neurons are subject to shared stimulus, history, and state-dependent conditions. Our results have provided evidence for concurrent or parallel network interactions in the generation and modulation of the respiratory motor pattern. Recent data suggest that baroreceptors, chemoreceptors, nociceptors, and airway cough receptors shape the respiratory motor pattern, at least in part, through a system of shared coordinated 'multifunctional' neurons distributed in the brain stem. The 'gravity method' for the analysis and representation of multi-neuron data has demonstrated respiratory phase-dependent impulse synchrony among neurons with no respiratory modulation of their individual firing rates. The detection of this emergent property motivated the development of pattern detection methods that subsequently identified repeated transient configurations of these 'correlational assemblies'. These results support the view that information can be 'coded' in the nervous system by spike timing relationships, in addition to firing rate changes that traditionally have been measured by neurophysiologists.
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Affiliation(s)
- B G Lindsey
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, and Neuroscience Program, University of South Florida Health Sciences Center, Tampa, FL 33612-4799, USA.
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25
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Morris KF, Baekey DM, Shannon R, Lindsey BG. Respiratory neural activity during long-term facilitation. RESPIRATION PHYSIOLOGY 2000; 121:119-33. [PMID: 10963769 DOI: 10.1016/s0034-5687(00)00123-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
Abstract
Intermittent hypoxia results in a long-term facilitation (LTF) of respiratory efferent activity. The studies reviewed here presented data from both anesthetized and decerebrate, paralyzed, vagotomized, artificially ventilated adult cats. Multiple arrays of tungsten microelectrodes were used to record the concurrent responses of brain stem neurons that contribute to respiratory motor pattern generation. Spike trains were analyzed with firing rate histograms, peristimulus time histograms, cycle triggered histograms, spike triggered averages with multiunit phrenic efferent activity, cross correlation histograms, joint peristimulus time histograms and the gravity method. These studies addressed several hypotheses. (1) There is parallel processing of input from carotid chemoreceptors to the brain stem. (2) Respiratory related midline neurons are involved in the induction and maintenance of LTF. (3) There is a change in effective connectivity of brain stem neurons with LTF. (4) Neural networks involved in the induction and maintenance of LTF have patterns of synchrony that recur with a frequency greater than expected by chance.
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Affiliation(s)
- K F Morris
- Department of Physiology, University of South Florida Medical Center, 12901 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa, FL 33612-4799, USA.
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26
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Ruggiero DA, Underwood MD, Mann JJ, Anwar M, Arango V. The human nucleus of the solitary tract: visceral pathways revealed with an "in vitro" postmortem tracing method. JOURNAL OF THE AUTONOMIC NERVOUS SYSTEM 2000; 79:181-90. [PMID: 10699650 DOI: 10.1016/s0165-1838(99)00097-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Visceral relay neurons in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) regulate behavior and autonomic reflex functions. NTS projections have been extensively characterized in animal studies but not in humans. For the first time, NTS fiber trajectories in the human medulla oblongata were revealed with an "in vitro" postmortem tracing method. Local intramedullary pathways were labeled by direct pressure injections of free horseradish peroxidase centered on the medial subnucleus at a level adjacent to true obex. Labeled elements were resolved by peroxidase histochemistry as a dark brown intracellular reaction product. A prominent transtegmental system of axons emerged from the NTS injection sites and entered the intermediate reticular zone, a region corresponding to an autonomic reflex center in other mammals. A medial system of axons arched across the dorsomedial reticular formation toward the dorsal medullary raphe and projected ventrally toward the nucleus gigantocellularis. A small lateral fiber trajectory coursed towards the dorsomedial zone of spinal trigeminal nucleus caudalis. Presumptive terminals appeared as dustings of fine punctate processes within the NTS, dorsomotor nucleus and reticular formation. NTS projections in humans resemble those identified in other mammals including primates. Axonal tracing studies predict that visceral impulses in humans may transmit over evolutionarily conserved pathways involved in autonomic feedback control and stress adaptation.
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Affiliation(s)
- D A Ruggiero
- Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Department of Psychiatry, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, USA.
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27
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Li Z, Morris KF, Baekey DM, Shannon R, Lindsey BG. Multimodal medullary neurons and correlational linkages of the respiratory network. J Neurophysiol 1999; 82:188-201. [PMID: 10400947 DOI: 10.1152/jn.1999.82.1.188] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
This study addresses the hypothesis that multiple sensory systems, each capable of reflexly altering breathing, jointly influence neurons of the brain stem respiratory network. Carotid chemoreceptors, baroreceptors, and foot pad nociceptors were stimulated sequentially in 33 Dial-urethan-anesthetized or decerebrate vagotomized adult cats. Neuronal impulses were monitored with microelectrode arrays in the rostral and caudal ventral respiratory group (VRG), nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), and n. raphe obscurus. Efferent phrenic nerve activity was recorded. Spike trains of 889 neurons were analyzed with cycle-triggered histograms and tested for respiratory-modulated firing rates. Responses to stimulus protocols were assessed with peristimulus time and cumulative sum histograms. Cross-correlation analysis was used to test for nonrandom temporal relationships between spike trains. Spike-triggered averages of efferent phrenic activity and antidromic stimulation methods provided evidence for functional associations of bulbar neurons with phrenic motoneurons. Spike train cross-correlograms were calculated for 6,471 pairs of neurons. Significant correlogram features were detected for 425 pairs, including 189 primary central peaks or troughs, 156 offset peaks or troughs, and 80 pairs with multiple peaks and troughs. The results provide evidence that correlational medullary assemblies include neurons with overlapping memberships in groups responsive to different sets of sensory modalities. The data suggest and support several hypotheses concerning cooperative relationships that modulate the respiratory motor pattern. 1) Neurons responsive to a single tested modality promote or limit changes in firing rate of multimodal target neurons. 2) Multimodal neurons contribute to changes in firing rate of neurons responsive to a single tested modality. 3) Multimodal neurons may promote responses during stimulation of one modality and "limit" changes in firing rates during stimulation of another sensory modality. 4) Caudal VRG inspiratory neurons have inhibitory connections that provide negative feedback regulation of inspiratory drive and phase duration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Z Li
- Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of South Florida Health Sciences Center, Tampa, Florida 33612-4799, USA
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