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Cortical Control of a Whisking Central Pattern Generator

Program in Neuroscience and the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland

Submitted 20 January 2006; accepted in final form 13 April 2006

Whether the motor cortex regulates voluntary movements by generating the motor pattern directly or by acting through subcortical central pattern generators (CPGs) remains a central question in motor control. Using the rat whisker system, an important model system of mammalian motor control, we develop an anesthetized preparation to investigate the interaction between the motor cortex and a whisking CPG. Using this model we investigate the involvement of a serotonergic component of the whisking CPG in determining whisking kinematics and the mechanisms through which drive from the CPG is converted into movements by vibrissa motor units. Consistent with an action of the vibrissa motor cortex (vMCx) on a subcortical CPG, the frequency of whisking evoked by intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) of vMCx differed significantly from the stimulation frequency, whereas whisking onset latencies correlated negatively with stimulation intensity. Further, ICMS-evoked whisking was suppressed by a serotonin receptor antagonist, supporting previous findings that the whisking CPG contains a significant serotonergic component. The amplitude of ICMS-evoked whisking was correlated with the number of active motor units—isolated from vibrissal EMGs or recorded directly from vibrissa motoneurons—and their activity level. In addition, whisking frequency was correlated with the firing rate of these motoneurons. These findings support the hypothesis that vMCx regulates whisking through its actions on a subcortical CPG.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. E. Hemelt and A. Keller Superior Colliculus Control of Vibrissa Movements J Neurophysiol, September 1, 2008; 100(3): 1245 - 1254. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. Masri, T. Bezdudnaya, J. C. Trageser, and A. Keller Encoding of Stimulus Frequency and Sensor Motion in the Posterior Medial Thalamic Nucleus J Neurophysiol, August 1, 2008; 100(2): 681 - 689. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. Chakrabarti, M. Zhang, and K. D. Alloway MI Neuronal Responses to Peripheral Whisker Stimulation: Relationship to Neuronal Activity in SI Barrels and Septa J Neurophysiol, July 1, 2008; 100(1): 50 - 63. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. N. Hill, R. Bermejo, H. P. Zeigler, and D. Kleinfeld Biomechanics of the Vibrissa Motor Plant in Rat: Rhythmic Whisking Consists of Triphasic Neuromuscular Activity J. Neurosci., March 26, 2008; 28(13): 3438 - 3455. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				N. P. Cramer, Y. Li, and A. Keller The Whisking Rhythm Generator: A Novel Mammalian Network for the Generation of Movement J Neurophysiol, March 1, 2007; 97(3): 2148 - 2158. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]