Differential Involvement of Projection Neurons During Emergence of Spontaneous Activity in the Developing Avian Hindbrain

Development of Spontaneous Activity in the Avian Hindbrain

Spontaneous activity in the developing central nervous system occurs before the brain responds to external sensory inputs, and appears in the hindbrain and spinal cord as rhythmic electrical discharges of cranial and spinal nerves. This spontaneous activity recruits a large population of neurons and propagates like a wave over a wide region of the central nervous system. Here, we review spontaneous activity in the chick hindbrain by focusing on this large-scale synchronized activity. Asynchronous activity that is expressed earlier than the above mentioned synchronized activity and activity originating in midline serotonergic neurons are also briefly mentioned.

Studying respiratory rhythm generation in a developing bird: Hatching a new experimental model using the classic in vitro brainstem-spinal cord preparation

It has been more than thirty years since the in vitro brainstem-spinal cord preparation was first presented as a method to study automatic breathing behaviors in the neonatal rat. This straightforward preparation has led to an incredible burst of information about the location and coordination of several spontaneously active microcircuits that form the ventrolateral respiratory network of the brainstem. Despite these advances, our knowledge of the mechanisms that regulate central breathing behaviors is still incomplete. Investigations into the nature of spontaneous breathing rhythmicity have almost exclusively focused on mammals, and there is a need for comparative experimental models to evaluate several unresolved issues from a different perspective. With this in mind, we sought to develop a new avian in vitro model with the long term goal to better understand questions associated with the ontogeny of respiratory rhythm generation, neuroplasticity, and whether multiple, independent oscillators drive the major phases of breathing. The fact that birds develop in ovo provides unparalleled access to central neuronal networks throughout the prenatal period - from embryo to hatchling - that are free from confounding interactions with mother. Previous studies using in vitro avian models have been strictly limited to the early embryonic period. Consequently, the details and even the presence of brainstem derived breathing-related rhythmogenesis in birds have never been described. In the present study, we used the altricial zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) and show robust spontaneous motor outflow through cranial motor nerve IX, which is first detectable on embryonic day four and continues through prenatal and early postnatal development without interruption. We also show that brainstem oscillations change dramatically over the course of prenatal development, sometimes within hours, which suggests rapid maturational modifications in growth and connectivity. We propose that this experimental preparation will be useful for a variety of studies aimed at testing the biophysical and synaptic properties of neurons that participate in the unique spatiotemporal patterns of avian breathing behaviors, especially in the context of early development.

Large-scale synchronized activity in the embryonic brainstem and spinal cord

In the developing central nervous system, spontaneous activity appears well before the brain responds to external sensory inputs. One of the earliest activities is observed in the hindbrain and spinal cord, which is detected as rhythmic electrical discharges of cranial and spinal motoneurons or oscillations of Ca(2+)- and voltage-related optical signals. Shortly after the initial expression, the spontaneous activity appearing in the hindbrain and spinal cord exhibits a large-scale correlated wave that propagates over a wide region of the central nervous system, maximally extending to the lumbosacral cord and to the forebrain. In this review, we describe several aspects of this synchronized activity by focusing on the basic properties, development, origin, propagation pattern, pharmacological characteristics, and possible mechanisms underlying the generation of the activity. These profiles differ from those of the respiratory and locomotion pattern generators observed in the mature brainstem and spinal cord, suggesting that the wave is primordial activity that appears during a specific period of embryonic development and plays some important roles in the development of the central nervous system.

Prenatal development of central rhythm generation

Foetal breathing in mice results from prenatal activity of the two coupled hindbrain oscillators considered to be responsible for respiratory rhythm generation after birth: the pre-Bötzinger complex (preBötC) is active shortly before the onset of foetal breathing; the parafacial respiratory group (e-pF in embryo) starts activity one day earlier. Transcription factors have been identified that are essential to specify neural progenitors and lineages forming each of these oscillators during early development of the neural tube: Hoxa1, Egr2 (Krox20), Phox2b, Lbx1 and Atoh1 for the e-pF; Dbx1 and Evx1 for the preBötC which eventually grow contralateral axons requiring expression of Robo3. Inactivation of the genes encoding these factors leads to mis-specification of these neurons and distinct breathing abnormalities: apneic patterns and loss of central chemosensitivity for the e-pF (central congenital hypoventilation syndrome, CCHS, in humans), complete loss of breathing for the preBötC, right-left desynchronized breathing in Robo3 mutants. Mutations affecting development in more rostral (pontine) respiratory territories change the shape of the inspiratory drive without affecting the rhythm. Other (primordial) embryonic oscillators start in the mouse three days before the e-pF, to generate low frequency (LF) rhythms that are probably required for activity-dependent development of neurones at embryonic stages; in the foetus, however, they are actively silenced to avoid detrimental interaction with the on-going respiratory rhythm. Altogether, these observations provide a strong support to the previously proposed hypothesis that the functional organization of the respiratory generator is specified at early stages of development and is dual in nature, comprising two serially non-homologous oscillators.

Genetic factors determining the functional organization of neural circuits controlling rhythmic movements the murine embryonic parafacial rhythm generator

In mammals, fetal movements governed by central pattern generators are essential for the development of adaptive behaviors such as breathing, walking, and chewing, which are vital after birth. Combining targeted mutations and genetic fate mapping can help to define the molecular determinants that control the development of these central pattern generators. In this chapter, recent results are presented on the embryonic parafacial (e-pF) rhythm generator, one of the two oscillators involved in controlling the breathing behavior and chemosensitive responsiveness.