A brainstem monosynaptic excitatory pathway that drives locomotor activities and sympathetic cardiovascular responses.

ABSTRACT: 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,

SUBMITTER: Koba S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9424289 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature