Motor neurons are dispensable for the assembly of a sensorimotor circuit for gaze stabilization.

ABSTRACT: Sensorimotor reflex circuits engage distinct neuronal subtypes, defined by precise connectivity, to transform sensation into compensatory behavior. Whether and how motor neuron populations specify the subtype fate and/or sensory connectivity of their pre-motor partners remains controversial. Here, we discovered that motor neurons are dispensable for proper connectivity in the vestibular reflex circuit that stabilizes gaze. We first measured activity following vestibular sensation in pre-motor projection neurons after constitutive loss of their extraocular motor neuron partners. We observed normal responses and topography indicative of unchanged functional connectivity between sensory neurons and projection neurons. Next, we show that projection neurons remain anatomically and molecularly p

SUBMITTER: Goldblatt D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10849732 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature