Locomotion coincides with c-Fos expression in related areas of inferior olive and cerebellar nuclei in the rat

Abstract

Rats that had been walking on a rotating drum for a period of 75 min, demonstrated expression of the immediate early gene c-Fos in specific areas of the inferior olive and cerebellar nuclei. Non-walking control rats did not show consistent Fos-like immunoreactive labelling in these nuclei. Fos-like immunoreactive olivary neurons were consistently found in the caudolateral parts of the dorsal accessory olive and in its dorsal fold, and within specific areas of the medial accessory and principal olives. In the cerebellar nuclei, immunoreactive cells were found in the medial part of the anterior interposed nucleus, in the interstitial cell groups, and within specific parts of the medial, posterior interposed, and lateral nuclei. The lateral vestibular nucleus as well as the ventral part of the magnocellular red nucleus also displayed positive neurons. Most of these positive areas are known (1) to be related to the spinal cord and (2) to be anatomically linked. These results are in line with a presumptive role of the olivo-cerebellar system in ongoing movement control.

B2 bradykinin receptor immunoreactivity in rat brain

“…The observation of staining within the red nucleus is intriguing because of the role of this structure and its efferent pathways in eliciting sustained postural tremor and other extrapyramidal symptoms. The involvement of the red nucleus in locomotor function in the rat suggests that bradykinin might be involved in the regulation and control of motor function (Ruigrok et al, 1996, Wishaw et al, 1996. B2 staining was also observed in the raphe nucleus, suggesting a role in anxiolytic be- havior and antinociception (Lichtman et al, 1996;Remy et al, 1996), a common effect of bradykinin administration (Ribeiro and Silva, 1973;Pela et al, 1996).…”

Plasminogen Deficiency Causes Reduced Corticospinal Axonal Plasticity and Functional Recovery after Stroke in Mice

“…In the present study, we primarily focused on the axonal remodeling of the direct motor pathway, the CST. However, the rubrospinal tract participates in the coordination of movements across joints, such as skilled forelimb movements [33], locomotion [34] and motor responses to pain [35], and possesses very similar branching patterns with the CST in the spinal cord [36]. The cortico-rubrospinal pathway appears to be a backup to the CST to enhance the behavioral recovery after CST lesion [37].…”

Differentiating ascending vestibular pathways to the cortex involved in spatial cognition

“…These same vestibulothalamic neurons also project to the spinal cord [17,117], and are therefore most likely associated with postural control and movement coordination. The same motor function is ascribed to the vestibulo-thalamic portions originating from the deep cerebellar nuclei [42,90,163,164,193,214,240], which display a similar convergence of vestibular, proprioceptive [128] and motor inputs [36]. Thus, the self-motion signal to the thalamus that is concerned with motion of the head is already a highly processed, complex, multi-sensory representation of movement, before it even leaves the vestibular brainstem.…”