Division of Integrative Physiology, Tottori University Faculty of Medicine, Yonago, Japan.
Division of Integrative Bioscience, Tottori University Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Yonago, Japan.
Nat Commun. 2022 Aug 29;13(1):5079. doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-32823-x.
Exercise including locomotion requires appropriate autonomic cardiovascular adjustments to meet the metabolic demands of contracting muscles, yet the functional brain architecture underlying these adjustments remains unknown. Here, we demonstrate brainstem circuitry that plays an essential role in relaying volitional motor signals, i.e., central command, to drive locomotor activities and sympathetic cardiovascular responses. Mesencephalic locomotor neurons in rats transmit central command-driven excitatory signals onto the rostral ventrolateral medulla at least partially via glutamatergic processes, to activate both somatomotor and sympathetic nervous systems. Optogenetic excitation of this monosynaptic pathway elicits locomotor and cardiovascular responses as seen during running exercise, whereas pathway inhibition suppresses the locomotor activities and blood pressure elevation during voluntary running without affecting basal cardiovascular homeostasis. These results demonstrate an important subcortical pathway that transmits central command signals, providing a key insight into the central circuit mechanism required for the physiological conditioning essential to maximize exercise performance.
运动包括运动，需要适当的自主心血管调节以满足收缩肌肉的代谢需求，但调节这些调节的功能大脑架构仍然未知。在这里，我们展示了在传递自愿运动信号（即中央命令）以驱动运动活动和交感心血管反应中起重要作用的脑干电路。大鼠的中脑运动神经元通过至少部分谷氨酸能过程将中央命令驱动的兴奋性信号传递到延髓腹外侧，以激活躯体运动和交感神经系统。光遗传学刺激这条单突触通路会引起类似于跑步运动时的运动和心血管反应，而通路抑制则会抑制自愿跑步时的运动活动和血压升高，而不会影响基础心血管稳态。这些结果表明了一种重要的皮质下途径，它传递中央命令信号，为生理调节所需的中枢电路机制提供了关键见解，这对于最大限度地提高运动表现至关重要。
