Kleinfeld David, Moore Jeffrey D, Wang Fan, Deschênes Martin
Department of Physics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093 Section of Neurobiology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093
Department of Physics, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093.
Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol. 2014;79:29-39. doi: 10.1101/sqb.2014.79.024794. Epub 2015 Apr 15.
Whisking and sniffing are predominant aspects of exploratory behavior in rodents. We review evidence that these motor rhythms are coordinated by the respiratory patterning circuitry in the ventral medulla. A recently described region in the intermediate reticular zone of the medulla functions as an autonomous whisking oscillator, whose neuronal output is reset upon each breath by input from the pre-Bötzinger complex. Based on similarities between this neuronal circuit architecture and that of other orofacial behaviors, we propose that the pre-Bötzinger complex, which projects broadly to premotor regions throughout the intermediate reticular zone of the medulla, functions as a master clock to coordinate multiple orofacial actions involved in exploratory and ingestive behaviors. We then extend the analysis of whisking to the relatively slow control of the midpoint of the whisk. We conjecture, in a manner consistent with breathing as the "master clock" for all orofacial behaviors, that slow control optimizes the position of sensors whereas the breathing rhythm provides a means to perceptually bind the inputs from different orofacial modalities.
拂动触须和嗅闻是啮齿动物探索行为的主要方面。我们回顾了相关证据，即这些运动节律由延髓腹侧的呼吸模式电路协调。最近在延髓中间网状区描述的一个区域起着自主触须振荡器的作用，其神经元输出在每次呼吸时通过来自前包钦格复合体的输入而重置。基于该神经元电路结构与其他口面部行为的相似性，我们提出，广泛投射到延髓中间网状区整个运动前区的前包钦格复合体，起着主时钟的作用，以协调探索和摄食行为中涉及的多种口面部动作。然后，我们将对触须拂动的分析扩展到对触须中点的相对缓慢控制。我们推测，与呼吸作为所有口面部行为的“主时钟”相一致，缓慢控制优化了传感器的位置，而呼吸节律提供了一种将来自不同口面部模式的输入在感知上结合起来的方式。
