biostudies-literatureUnknownJonaitis JNIDA NIH HHSNINDS NIH HHSWellcome TrustUnderstanding how animals coordinate movements to achieve goals is a fundamental pursuit in neuroscience. Here we explore how neurons that reside in posterior lower-order regions of a locomotor system project to anterior higher-order regions to influence steering and navigation. We characterized the anatomy and functional role of a population of ascending interneurons in the ventral nerve cord of <i>Drosophila</i> larvae. Through electron microscopy reconstructions and light microscopy, we determined that the cholinergic 19f cells receive input primarily from premotor interneurons and synapse upon a diverse array of postsynaptic targets within the anterior segments including other 19f cells. Calcium imaging of 19f activity in isolated central nervous system (CNS) preparations in relation tbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology2024.06.17.598162https://www.ebi.ac.uk/biostudies/studies/S-EPMC11212907biostudies-literatureSTEERING FROM THE REAR: COORDINATION OF CENTRAL PATTERN GENERATORS UNDERLYING NAVIGATION BY ASCENDING INTERNEURONS.PMC11212907R13 DA034437R01 NS105748Hiramoto AMcCafferty Layte KJonaitis JZwart MFHibbard KLCardona ATruman JWNose APulver SRfalseSTEERING FROM THE REAR: COORDINATION OF CENTRAL PATTERN GENERATORS UNDERLYING NAVIGATION BY ASCENDING INTERNEURONS.Understanding how animals coordinate movements to achieve goals is a fundamental pursuit in neuroscience. Here we explore how neurons that reside in posterior lower-order regions of a locomotor system project to anterior higher-order regions to influence steering and navigation. We characterized the anatomy and functional role of a population of ascending interneurons in the ventral nerve cord of <i>Drosophila</i> larvae. Through electron microscopy reconstructions and light microscopy, we determined that the cholinergic 19f cells receive input primarily from premotor interneurons and synapse upon a diverse array of postsynaptic targets within the anterior segments including other 19f cells. Calcium imaging of 19f activity in isolated central nervous system (CNS) preparations in relation t2024-01-01T00:00:00Z2024 Jun2025-04-26T05:39:56.13Z2025-04-06T11:39:03.399ZS-EPMC112129073894885910.1101/2024.06.17.598162