Groupe de Recherche sur le Système Nerveux Central, Département de physiologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
Curr Pharm Des. 2013;19(24):4448-70. doi: 10.2174/1381612811319240011.
In 1966, Shik, Severin and Orlovskii discovered that electrical stimulation of a region at the junction between the midbrain and hindbrain elicited controlled walking and running in the cat. The region was named Mesencephalic Locomotor Region (MLR). Since then, this locomotor center was shown to control locomotion in various vertebrate species, including the lamprey, salamander, stingray, rat, guinea-pig, rabbit or monkey. In human subjects asked to imagine they are walking, there is an increased activity in brainstem nuclei corresponding to the MLR (i.e. pedunculopontine, cuneiform and subcuneiform nuclei). Clinicians are now stimulating (deep brain stimulation) structures considered to be part of the MLR to alleviate locomotor symptoms of patients with Parkinson's disease. However, the anatomical constituents of the MLR still remain a matter of debate, especially relative to the pedunculopontine, cuneiform and subcuneiform nuclei. Furthermore, recent studies in lampreys have revealed that the MLR is more complex than a simple relay in a serial descending pathway activating the spinal locomotor circuits. It has multiple functions. Our goal is to review the current knowledge relative to the anatomical constituents of the MLR, and its physiological role, from lamprey to man. We will discuss these results in the context of the recent clinical studies involving stimulation of the MLR in patients with Parkinson's disease.
1966 年，Shik、Severin 和 Orlovskii 发现，刺激中脑和后脑交界处的一个区域可以诱发猫的受控行走和奔跑。该区域被命名为中脑运动区（MLR）。从那时起，这个运动中心被证明可以控制各种脊椎动物物种的运动，包括七鳃鳗、蝾螈、黄貂鱼、大鼠、豚鼠、兔子或猴子。在要求人类想象自己在行走的实验中，与 MLR 对应的脑干核团活动增加（即脚桥核、楔状核和楔下核）。临床医生现在正在刺激（深部脑刺激）被认为是 MLR 一部分的结构，以缓解帕金森病患者的运动症状。然而，MLR 的解剖组成仍然存在争议，特别是相对于脚桥核、楔状核和楔下核。此外，最近对七鳃鳗的研究表明，MLR 比激活脊髓运动回路的串行下行途径中的简单中继更为复杂。它具有多种功能。我们的目标是回顾从七鳃鳗到人类，与 MLR 的解剖组成及其生理作用相关的现有知识。我们将在涉及刺激帕金森病患者 MLR 的最新临床研究的背景下讨论这些结果。
