Meeting Abstract
The brainstem of tetrapod vertebrates is essential for the generation, modulation, and maintenance of fundamental sensorimotor programs leading to basic behavioral repertoires such as locomotion, eating, and copulating. Early 20th century behavioral experiments by Sherrington and Kuypers independently revealed these brainstem functions in decerebrate cats and monkeys. However, little research has been done on this important brain region since. In an effort to understand how the brainstem neural circuits mediate behaviors, we are building a library of the structure and function of cells in the rostromedial reticular formation (mRF) of the medulla oblongata. Reticulospinal neurons in the mRF provide major descending input to the spinal cord mediating movements of all vertebrates, and we understand the mRF to be key in mediating the expression of clasping behavior by newts, Taricha granulosa. To grow an understanding of the mRF, we are using a combination of neurophysiology, imaging, modeling, and immunohistochemistry. The intrinsic properties of random mRF neurons are recorded using whole cell electrophysiology, the same neuron is then imaged using confocal microscopy, the 3D image combined with information about phenotype and physiology is processed in Fiji software, and cell models are generated in Neuron software. Neurotransmitter phenotype is identified using immunohistochemistry. The combination of these approaches creates an atlas of characteristics of mRF neurons, and will broaden our knowledge of how neuron shape, size, and neurotransmitter identity are related to the intrinsic properties of these mRF neurons. Given how conserved the function of the mRF is across all vertebrates, we anticipate that this knowledge will elucidate new principles in the organization and operation of the motor brainstem.
