Central-Complex Control of Movement in the Freely Walking Cockroach

Martin, Joshua P.; Guo, Peiyuan; Mu, Lingxia; Harley, Cynthia M.; Ritzmann, Roy E.

doi:10.1016/j.cub.2015.09.044

Cited by 163 publications

(200 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…Previously, higher motor centers, such as the central complex and the subesophageal ganglion (SEG), were shown to control walking initiation, maintenance, turning, and speed (Kien and Williams, 1983; Bender et al, 2010; Libersat and Gal, 2013; Martin et al, 2015), but their interaction with the leg motor circuits remained unclear. Based on our current results, motor regulators can potentially reinforce the different ganglia in changing the bilateral tendency of the network, or differentially alter the oscillating parameters of each side of the ganglia chain independently in order to induce lateral asymmetry.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rigidity and Flexibility: The Central Basis of Inter-Leg Coordination in the Locust

Knebel

Ayali

Pflüger

et al. 2017

Front. Neural Circuits

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Many motor behaviors, and specifically locomotion, are the product of an intricate interplay between neuronal oscillators known as central pattern generators (CPGs), descending central commands, and sensory feedback loops. The relative contribution of each of these components to the final behavior determines the trade-off between fixed movements and those that are carefully adapted to the environment. Here we sought to decipher the endogenous, default, motor output of the CPG network controlling the locust legs, in the absence of any sensory or descending influences. We induced rhythmic activity in the leg CPGs in isolated nervous system preparations, using different application procedures of the muscarinic agonist pilocarpine. We found that the three thoracic ganglia, each controlling a pair of legs, have different inherent bilateral coupling. Furthermore, we found that the pharmacological activation of one ganglion is sufficient to induce activity in the other, untreated, ganglia. Each ganglion was thus capable to impart its own bilateral inherent pattern onto the other ganglia via a tight synchrony among the ipsilateral CPGs. By cutting a connective and severing the lateral-longitudinal connections, we were able to uncouple the oscillators’ activity. While the bilateral connections demonstrated a high modularity, the ipsilateral CPGs maintained a strict synchronized activity. These findings suggest that the central infrastructure behind locust walking features both rigid elements, which presumably support the generation of stereotypic orchestrated leg movements, and flexible elements, which might provide the central basis for adaptations to the environment and to higher motor commands.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rigidity and Flexibility: The Central Basis of Inter-Leg Coordination in the Locust

Knebel

Ayali

Pflüger

et al. 2017

Front. Neural Circuits

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“…For example, in the cockroach, removing the descending projections from the brain alters certain mechanosensory reflexes [187]. A recent study extended this finding to show that electrical stimulation of neurons in the cockroach central complex can alter the tibial resistance reflex [192]. An appealing hypothesis is that diverse motor patterns can be generated by top-down modulation of basic sensorimotor loops like the resistance reflex.…”

Section: From Mechanosensation To Action: the Problems Faced By The Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanosensation and Adaptive Motor Control in Insects

2016

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Summary The ability of animals to flexibly navigate through complex environments depends on the integration of sensory information with motor commands. The sensory modality most tightly linked to motor control is mechanosensation. Adaptive motor control depends critically on an animal’s ability to respond to mechanical forces generated both within and outside the body. The compact neural circuits of insects provide appealing systems to investigate how mechanical cues guide locomotion in rugged environments. Here, we review our current understanding of mechanosensation in insects and its role in adaptive motor control. We first examine the detection and encoding of mechanical forces by primary mechanoreceptor neurons. We then discuss how central circuits integrate and transform mechanosensory information to guide locomotion. Because most studies in this field have been performed in locusts, cockroaches, crickets, and stick insects, the examples we cite here are drawn mainly from these ‘big insects’. However, we also pay particular attention to the tiny fruit fly, Drosophila, where new tools are creating new opportunities, particularly for understanding central circuits. Our aim is to show how studies of big insects have yielded fundamental insights relevant to mechanosensation in all animals, and also to point out how the Drosophila toolkit can contribute to future progress in understanding mechanosensory processing.

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“…The recent explosion of data on the central complex (CX) (Pfeiffer and Homberg, 2014) has documented numerous types of sensory information that converge in these midline neuropils. Moreover, large amounts of neuromodulatory receptors and targets have been identified (Kahsai and Winther, 2011; Boyan and Liu, 2016) and motor control effects demonstrated (Bender et al, 2010; Martin et al, 2015). These studies combine to suggest that the CX plays a pivotal role in guiding appropriate behaviors for each species and adjusting the accompanying movements to match the current context that an individual insect finds itself in at any point in time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial Navigation and the Central Complex: Sensory Acquisition, Orientation, and Motor Control

Varga

Kathman

Martin

et al. 2017

Front. Behav. Neurosci.

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Cockroaches are scavengers that forage through dark, maze-like environments. Like other foraging animals, for instance rats, they must continually asses their situation to keep track of targets and negotiate barriers. While navigating a complex environment, all animals need to integrate sensory information in order to produce appropriate motor commands. The integrated sensory cues can be used to provide the animal with an environmental and contextual reference frame for the behavior. To successfully reach a goal location, navigational cues continuously derived from sensory inputs have to be utilized in the spatial guidance of motor commands. The sensory processes, contextual and spatial mechanisms, and motor outputs contributing to navigation have been heavily studied in rats. In contrast, many insect studies focused on the sensory and/or motor components of navigation, and our knowledge of the abstract representation of environmental context and spatial information in the insect brain is relatively limited. Recent reports from several laboratories have explored the role of the central complex (CX), a sensorimotor region of the insect brain, in navigational processes by recording the activity of CX neurons in freely-moving insects and in more constrained, experimenter-controlled situations. The results of these studies indicate that the CX participates in processing the temporal and spatial components of sensory cues, and utilizes these cues in creating an internal representation of orientation and context, while also directing motor control. Although these studies led to a better understanding of the CX's role in insect navigation, there are still major voids in the literature regarding the underlying mechanisms and brain regions involved in spatial navigation. The main goal of this review is to place the above listed findings in the wider context of animal navigation by providing an overview of the neural mechanisms of navigation in rats and summarizing and comparing our current knowledge on the CX's role in insect navigation to these processes. By doing so, we aimed to highlight some of the missing puzzle pieces in insect navigation and provide a different perspective for future directions.

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Central-Complex Control of Movement in the Freely Walking Cockroach

Cited by 163 publications

References 45 publications

Rigidity and Flexibility: The Central Basis of Inter-Leg Coordination in the Locust

Rigidity and Flexibility: The Central Basis of Inter-Leg Coordination in the Locust

Mechanosensation and Adaptive Motor Control in Insects

Spatial Navigation and the Central Complex: Sensory Acquisition, Orientation, and Motor Control

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