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The lateral reticular nucleus; integration of descending and ascending systems regulating voluntary forelimb movements.

Alstermark, Bror and Ekerot, Carl-Fredrik LU (2015) In Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience 9.
Abstract
Cerebellar control of movements is dependent on mossy fiber input conveying information about sensory and premotor activity in the spinal cord. While much is known about spino-cerebellar systems, which provide the cerebellum with detailed sensory information, much less is known about systems conveying motor information. Individual motoneurones do not have projections to spino-cerebellar neurons. Instead, the fastest route is from last order spinal interneurons. In order to identify the networks that convey ascending premotor information from last order interneurons, we have focused on the lateral reticular nucleus (LRN), which provides the major mossy fiber input to cerebellum from spinal interneuronal systems. Three spinal ascending... (More)
Cerebellar control of movements is dependent on mossy fiber input conveying information about sensory and premotor activity in the spinal cord. While much is known about spino-cerebellar systems, which provide the cerebellum with detailed sensory information, much less is known about systems conveying motor information. Individual motoneurones do not have projections to spino-cerebellar neurons. Instead, the fastest route is from last order spinal interneurons. In order to identify the networks that convey ascending premotor information from last order interneurons, we have focused on the lateral reticular nucleus (LRN), which provides the major mossy fiber input to cerebellum from spinal interneuronal systems. Three spinal ascending systems to the LRN have been investigated: the C3-C4 propriospinal neurones (PNs), the ipsilateral forelimb tract (iFT) and the bilateral ventral flexor reflex tract (bVFRT). Voluntary forelimb movements involve reaching and grasping together with necessary postural adjustments and each of these three interneuronal systems likely contribute to specific aspects of forelimb motor control. It has been demonstrated that the command for reaching can be mediated via C3-C4 PNs, while the command for grasping is conveyed via segmental interneurons in the forelimb segments. Our results reveal convergence of ascending projections from all three interneuronal systems in the LRN, producing distinct combinations of excitation and inhibition. We have also identified a separate descending control of LRN neurons exerted via a subgroup of cortico-reticular neurones. The LRN projections to the deep cerebellar nuclei exert a direct excitatory effect on descending motor pathways via the reticulospinal, vestibulospinal, and other supraspinal tracts, and might play a key role in cerebellar motor control. Our results support the hypothesis that the LRN provides the cerebellum with highly integrated information, enabling cerebellar control of complex forelimb movements. (Less)
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author
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Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience
volume
9
article number
102
publisher
Frontiers Media S. A.
external identifiers
  • wos:000360180900001
  • pmid:26300768
  • scopus:84936956990
  • pmid:26300768
ISSN
1662-5188
DOI
10.3389/fncom.2015.00102
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
808b1ed4-fe6b-4909-80b0-df4b8f5a97f6 (old id 7835209)
alternative location
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26300768?dopt=Abstract
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 14:42:28
date last changed
2022-03-29 22:25:12
@article{808b1ed4-fe6b-4909-80b0-df4b8f5a97f6,
  abstract     = {{Cerebellar control of movements is dependent on mossy fiber input conveying information about sensory and premotor activity in the spinal cord. While much is known about spino-cerebellar systems, which provide the cerebellum with detailed sensory information, much less is known about systems conveying motor information. Individual motoneurones do not have projections to spino-cerebellar neurons. Instead, the fastest route is from last order spinal interneurons. In order to identify the networks that convey ascending premotor information from last order interneurons, we have focused on the lateral reticular nucleus (LRN), which provides the major mossy fiber input to cerebellum from spinal interneuronal systems. Three spinal ascending systems to the LRN have been investigated: the C3-C4 propriospinal neurones (PNs), the ipsilateral forelimb tract (iFT) and the bilateral ventral flexor reflex tract (bVFRT). Voluntary forelimb movements involve reaching and grasping together with necessary postural adjustments and each of these three interneuronal systems likely contribute to specific aspects of forelimb motor control. It has been demonstrated that the command for reaching can be mediated via C3-C4 PNs, while the command for grasping is conveyed via segmental interneurons in the forelimb segments. Our results reveal convergence of ascending projections from all three interneuronal systems in the LRN, producing distinct combinations of excitation and inhibition. We have also identified a separate descending control of LRN neurons exerted via a subgroup of cortico-reticular neurones. The LRN projections to the deep cerebellar nuclei exert a direct excitatory effect on descending motor pathways via the reticulospinal, vestibulospinal, and other supraspinal tracts, and might play a key role in cerebellar motor control. Our results support the hypothesis that the LRN provides the cerebellum with highly integrated information, enabling cerebellar control of complex forelimb movements.}},
  author       = {{Alstermark, Bror and Ekerot, Carl-Fredrik}},
  issn         = {{1662-5188}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Frontiers Media S. A.}},
  series       = {{Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience}},
  title        = {{The lateral reticular nucleus; integration of descending and ascending systems regulating voluntary forelimb movements.}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fncom.2015.00102}},
  doi          = {{10.3389/fncom.2015.00102}},
  volume       = {{9}},
  year         = {{2015}},
}