Inputs and outputs of inhibitory reticulospinal cells in lampreys

Locomotion is a basic act that humans and animals use in everyday life to move in the environment. There has been an ongoing effort for at least a century to understand the mechanisms that the brain uses to control locomotion, including starting and stopping. Studying those mechanisms at the level of single neurons, and finding how their participate in locomotion is a difficult task, especially in humans and mammals, mostly because of the large number of neurons involved and the very complex networks that they form. This is why researchers have always looked for simpler animal models that can still provide insights as to how locomotion works in humans. One such model is an aquatic vertebrate that swims with simple ondulatory movements, the lamprey. This peculiar fish has a very simple brain with neurons and general structures that are very similar to what is found in humans. Previous studies on lampreys have shown that some cells that participate in controlling locomotion are inhibitory in nature but their role hasn’t yet been defined. A possible role of these cells would be to send an inhibitory signal to the spinal cord that would help stop ongoing locomotion.

Faculty Supervisor:

Réjean Dubuc

Student:

Partner:

Universität zu Köln

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Education

University:

Université de Montréal

Program: