Brainstem pathways controlling the versatility and selection of motor actions in the zebrafish Danio rerio
Final Report Abstract
The results of this project extend the existing knowledge on the organization of the descending locomotor system by adding a detailed characterization of neurons in a prominent reticulospinal nucleus, the nucleus of the medial longitudinal fasciculus (nMLF). We find that neurons in this nucleus can be subdivided into two groups whose activity reflects spontaneous swimming with different vigor, i.e. tail beat frequency and amplitude. In this scheme, the first group of neurons is recruited already at low vigor, supporting swim onset and duration, whereas the second group is selectively active at - and thus supports the employment of - high vigor swimming. In addition, the project considerably advanced the methodology towards imaging and ablation experiments of the nMLF in the intact juvenile/adult zebrafish; experiments which are conducted at the moment. Working for another year, I will be able to finish these series of experiments with the aim to establish a causal link from nMLF commands to variations in swimming behavior soon.
Publications
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(2018) “Principles governing locomotion in vertebrates: lessons from zebrafish” Frontiers in Neural Circuits 13;12:73
Berg, Eva M.; Björnfors, E. Rebecka; Pallucchi, Irene; Picton, Laurence D. & El Manira, Abdeljabbar
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(2018). „Complementary expression of calcium binding proteins delineates the functional organization of the locomotor network“ Brain Structure and Function 223(5):2181-2196
Berg, Eva M.; Bertuzzi, Maria & Ampatzis, Konstantinos
