Neuromodulatory Selection of Motor Neuron Recruitment Patterns in a Visuomotor Behavior Increases Speed.

ABSTRACT: Animals generate locomotion at different speeds to suit their behavioral needs. Spinal circuits generate locomotion at these varying speeds by sequential activation of different spinal interneurons and motor neurons. Larval zebrafish can generate slow swims for prey capture and exploration by activation of secondary motor neurons and much faster and vigorous swims during escape and struggle via additional activation of primary motor neurons. Neuromodulators are known to alter the motor output of spinal circuits, but their precise role in speed regulation is not well understood. Here, in the context of optomotor response (OMR), an innate evoked locomotor behavior, we show that dopamine (DA) provides an additional layer to regulation of swim speed in larval zebrafish. Activation of D1-like r

SUBMITTER: Jha U 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7611532 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature