Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan.
Science. 2011 Apr 15;332(6027):365-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1202244.
How do animals initiate voluntary behavior? A key phenomenon in neuroscience is the readiness or preparatory neural activity in specific regions of the animal brain. The neurons and synaptic mechanisms mediating this activity are unknown. We found that the readiness discharge is shaped by sequential synaptic excitation and inhibition in the brain of crayfish (Procambarus clarkii). The readiness discharge neurons extended axon collaterals that appeared to activate recurring local interneurons. Therefore, we propose that the readiness discharge is formed by sequential synaptic events within the brain without feedback signals from downstream ganglia. The circuit involved is suited for signal processing for self-generated voluntary initiation of behavior.
动物如何启动自主行为？神经科学中的一个关键现象是动物大脑特定区域的预备或准备性神经活动。介导这种活动的神经元和突触机制尚不清楚。我们发现，小龙虾（Procambarus clarkii）大脑中的预备放电是由顺序的突触兴奋和抑制形成的。预备放电神经元延伸出轴突侧支，这些侧支似乎可以激活反复出现的局部中间神经元。因此，我们提出预备放电是由大脑内的顺序突触事件形成的，而无需来自下游神经节的反馈信号。所涉及的回路适合于自我产生自主行为的信号处理。
