Descending pathways from the superior colliculus mediating autonomic and respiratory effects associated with orienting behaviour.

The ability to discriminate competing external stimuli and initiate contextually appropriate behaviours is a key brain function. Neurons in the deep superior colliculus (dSC) integrate multisensory inputs and activate descending projections to premotor pathways responsible for orienting, attention and defence, behaviours which involve adjustments to respiratory and cardiovascular parameters. However, the neural pathways that subserve the physiological components of orienting are poorly understood. We report that orienting responses to optogenetic dSC stimulation are accompanied by short-latency autonomic, respiratory and electroencephalographic effects in awake rats, closely mimicking those evoked by naturalistic alerting stimuli. Physiological responses were not accompanied by detectable aversion or fear, and persisted under urethane anaesthesia, indicating independence from emotional stress. Anterograde and trans-synaptic viral tracing identified a monosynaptic pathway that links the dSC to spinally projecting neurons in the medullary gigantocellular reticular nucleus (GiA), a key hub for the coordination of orienting and locomotor behaviours. In urethane-anaesthetized animals, sympathoexcitatory and cardiovascular, but not respiratory, responses to dSC stimulation were replicated by optogenetic stimulation of the dSC-GiA terminals, suggesting a likely role for this pathway in mediating the autonomic components of dSC-mediated responses. Similarly, extracellular recordings from putative GiA sympathetic premotor neurons confirmed short-latency excitatory inputs from the dSC. This pathway represents a likely substrate for autonomic components of orienting responses that are mediated by dSC neurons and suggests a mechanism through which physiological and motor components of orienting behaviours may be integrated without the involvement of higher centres that mediate affective components of defensive responses. KEY POINTS: Neurons in the deep superior colliculus (dSC) integrate multimodal sensory signals to elicit context-dependent innate behaviours that are accompanied by stereotypical cardiovascular and respiratory activities. The pathways responsible for mediating the physiological components of colliculus-mediated orienting behaviours are unknown. We show that optogenetic dSC stimulation evokes transient orienting, respiratory and autonomic effects in awake rats which persist under urethane anaesthesia. Anterograde tracing from the dSC identified projections to spinally projecting neurons in the medullary gigantocellular reticular nucleus (GiA). Stimulation of this pathway recapitulated autonomic effects evoked by stimulation of dSC neurons. Electrophysiological recordings from putative GiA sympathetic premotor neurons confirmed short latency excitatory input from dSC neurons. This disynaptic dSC-GiA-spinal sympathoexcitatory pathway may underlie autonomic adjustments to salient environmental cues independent of input from higher centres.

On the presence and functional significance of sympathetic premotor neurons with collateralized spinal axons in the rat.

KEY POINTS: Spinally-projecting neurons of the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) determine sympathetic outflow to different territories of the body. Previous studies suggest the existence of RVLM neurons with distinct functional classes, such as neurons that target sympathetic nerves bound for functionally-similar tissue types (e.g. muscle vasculature). The existence of RVLM neurons with more general actions had not been critically tested. Using viral tracing, we show that a significant minority of RVLM neurons send axon collaterals to disparate spinal segments (T2 and T10 ). Furthermore, optogenetic activation of sympathetic premotor neurons projecting to lumbar spinal segments also produced activation of sympathetic nerves from rostral spinal segments that innervate functionally diverse tissues (heart and forelimb muscle). These findings suggest the existence of individual RVLM neurons for which the axons branch to drive sympathetic preganglionic neurons of more than one functional class and may be able to produce global changes in sympathetic activity. ABSTRACT: We investigate the extent of spinal axon collateralization of rat rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) sympathetic premotor neurons and its functional consequences. In anatomical tracing experiments, two recombinant herpes viral vectors with retrograde tropism and expressing different fluorophores were injected into the intermediolateral column at upper thoracic and lower thoracic levels. Histological analysis revealed that ∼21% of RVLM bulbospinal neurons were retrogradely labelled by both vectors, indicating substantial axonal collateralization to disparate spinal segments. In functional experiments, another virus with retrograde tropism, a canine adenovirus expressing Cre recombinase, was injected into the left intermediolateral horn around the thoracolumbar junction, whereas a Cre-dependent viral vector encoding Channelrhodopsin2 under LoxP control was injected into the ipsilateral RVLM. In subsequent terminal experiments, blue laser light (473 nm × 20 ms pulses at 10 mW) was used to activate RVLM neurons that had been transduced by both vectors. Stimulus-locked activation, at appropriate latencies, was recorded in the following pairs of sympathetic nerves: forelimb and hindlimb muscle sympathetic fibres, as well as cardiac and either hindlimb muscle or lumbar sympathetic nerves. The latter result demonstrates that axon collaterals of lumbar-projecting RVLM neurons project to, and excite, both functionally similar (forelimb and hindlimb muscle) and functionally dissimilar (lumbar and cardiac) preganglionic neurons. Taken together, these findings show that the axons of a significant proportion of RVLM neurons collateralise widely within the spinal cord, and that they may excite preganglionic neurons of more than one functional class.

The pelvic organs receive no parasympathetic innervation.

The pelvic organs (bladder, rectum, and sex organs) have been represented for a century as receiving autonomic innervation from two pathways - lumbar sympathetic and sacral parasympathetic - by way of a shared relay, the pelvic ganglion, conceived as an assemblage of sympathetic and parasympathetic neurons. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we find that the mouse pelvic ganglion is made of four classes of neurons, distinct from both sympathetic and parasympathetic ones, albeit with a kinship to the former, but not the latter, through a complex genetic signature. We also show that spinal lumbar preganglionic neurons synapse in the pelvic ganglion onto equal numbers of noradrenergic and cholinergic cells, both of which therefore serve as sympathetic relays. Thus, the pelvic viscera receive no innervation from parasympathetic or typical sympathetic neurons, but instead from a divergent tail end of the sympathetic chains, in charge of its idiosyncratic functions.

A novel reticular node in the brainstem synchronizes neonatal mouse crying with breathing.

Human speech can be divided into short, rhythmically timed elements, similar to syllables within words. Even our cries and laughs, as well as the vocalizations of other species, are periodic. However, the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the tempo of mammalian vocalizations remain unknown. Furthermore, even the core cells that produce vocalizations remain ill-defined. Here, we describe rhythmically timed neonatal mouse vocalizations that occur within single breaths and identify a brainstem node that is necessary for and sufficient to structure these cries, which we name the intermediate reticular oscillator (iRO). We show that the iRO acts autonomously and sends direct inputs to key muscles and the respiratory rhythm generator in order to coordinate neonatal vocalizations with breathing, as well as paces and patterns these cries. These results reveal that a novel mammalian brainstem oscillator embedded within the conserved breathing circuitry plays a central role in the production of neonatal vocalizations.

Mafa-dependent GABAergic activity promotes mouse neonatal apneas.

While apneas are associated with multiple pathological and fatal conditions, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain elusive. We report that a mutated form of the transcription factor Mafa (Mafa4A) that prevents phosphorylation of the Mafa protein leads to an abnormally high incidence of breath holding apneas and death in newborn Mafa4A/4A mutant mice. This apneic breathing is phenocopied by restricting the mutation to central GABAergic inhibitory neurons and by activation of inhibitory Mafa neurons while reversed by inhibiting GABAergic transmission centrally. We find that Mafa activates the Gad2 promoter in vitro and that this activation is enhanced by the mutation that likely results in increased inhibitory drives onto target neurons. We also find that Mafa inhibitory neurons are absent from respiratory, sensory (primary and secondary) and pontine structures but are present in the vicinity of the hypoglossal motor nucleus including premotor neurons that innervate the geniohyoid muscle, to control upper airway patency. Altogether, our data reveal a role for Mafa phosphorylation in regulation of GABAergic drives and suggest a mechanism whereby reduced premotor drives to upper airway muscles may cause apneic breathing at birth.

A medullary centre for lapping in mice.

It has long been known that orofacial movements for feeding can be triggered, coordinated, and often rhythmically organized at the level of the brainstem, without input from higher centers. We uncover two nuclei that can organize the movements for ingesting fluids in mice. These neuronal groups, IRtPhox2b and Peri5Atoh1, are marked by expression of the pan-autonomic homeobox gene Phox2b and are located, respectively, in the intermediate reticular formation of the medulla and around the motor nucleus of the trigeminal nerve. They are premotor to all jaw-opening and tongue muscles. Stimulation of either, in awake animals, opens the jaw, while IRtPhox2b alone also protracts the tongue. Moreover, stationary stimulation of IRtPhox2b entrains a rhythmic alternation of tongue protraction and retraction, synchronized with jaw opening and closing, that mimics lapping. Finally, fiber photometric recordings show that IRtPhox2b is active during volitional lapping. Our study identifies one of the subcortical nuclei underpinning a stereotyped feeding behavior.

Corrigendum: A Student's Guide to Neural Circuit Tracing.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2019.00897.].

A Student's Guide to Neural Circuit Tracing.

The mammalian nervous system is comprised of a seemingly infinitely complex network of specialized synaptic connections that coordinate the flow of information through it. The field of connectomics seeks to map the structure that underlies brain function at resolutions that range from the ultrastructural, which examines the organization of individual synapses that impinge upon a neuron, to the macroscopic, which examines gross connectivity between large brain regions. At the mesoscopic level, distant and local connections between neuronal populations are identified, providing insights into circuit-level architecture. Although neural tract tracing techniques have been available to experimental neuroscientists for many decades, considerable methodological advances have been made in the last 20 years due to synergies between the fields of molecular biology, virology, microscopy, computer science and genetics. As a consequence, investigators now enjoy an unprecedented toolbox of reagents that can be directed against selected subpopulations of neurons to identify their efferent and afferent connectomes. Unfortunately, the intersectional nature of this progress presents newcomers to the field with a daunting array of technologies that have emerged from disciplines they may not be familiar with. This review outlines the current state of mesoscale connectomic approaches, from data collection to analysis, written for the novice to this field. A brief history of neuroanatomy is followed by an assessment of the techniques used by contemporary neuroscientists to resolve mesoscale organization, such as conventional and viral tracers, and methods of selecting for sub-populations of neurons. We consider some weaknesses and bottlenecks of the most widely used approaches for the analysis and dissemination of tracing data and explore the trajectories that rapidly developing neuroanatomy technologies are likely to take.

PACAP-PAC1 Receptor Activation Is Necessary for the Sympathetic Response to Acute Intermittent Hypoxia.

Repetitive hypoxia is a key feature of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), a condition characterized by intermittent airways obstruction. Patients with OSA present with persistent increases in sympathetic activity and commonly develop hypertension. The objectives of this study were to determine if the persistent increases in sympathetic nerve activity, known to be induced by acute intermittent hypoxia (AIH), are mediated through activation of the pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) signaling system. Here, we show that the excitatory neuropeptide PACAP, acting in the spinal cord, is important for generating the sympathetic response seen following AIH. Using PACAP receptor knockout mice, and pharmacological agents in Sprague Dawley rats, we measured blood pressure, heart rate, pH, PaCO2, and splanchnic sympathetic nerve activity, under anaesthesia, to demonstrate that the sympathetic response to AIH is mediated via the PAC1 receptor, in a cAMP-dependent manner. We also report that both intermittent microinjection of glutamate into the rostroventrolateral medulla (RVLM) and intermittent infusion of a sub-threshold dose of PACAP into the subarachnoid space can mimic the sympathetic response to AIH. All the sympathetic responses are independent of blood pressure, pH or PaCO2 changes. Our results show that in AIH, PACAP signaling in the spinal cord helps drive persistent increases in sympathetic nerve activity. This mechanism may be a precursor to the development of hypertension in conditions of chronic intermittent hypoxia, such as OSA.

Mapping and Analysis of the Connectome of Sympathetic Premotor Neurons in the Rostral Ventrolateral Medulla of the Rat Using a Volumetric Brain Atlas.

Spinally projecting neurons in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM) play a critical role in the generation of vasomotor sympathetic tone and are thought to receive convergent input from neurons at every level of the neuraxis; the factors that determine their ongoing activity remain unresolved. In this study we use a genetically restricted viral tracing strategy to definitively map their spatially diffuse connectome. We infected bulbospinal RVLM neurons with a recombinant rabies variant that drives reporter expression in monosynaptically connected input neurons and mapped their distribution using an MRI-based volumetric atlas and a novel image alignment and visualization tool that efficiently translates the positions of neurons captured in conventional photomicrographs to Cartesian coordinates. We identified prominent inputs from well-established neurohumoral and viscero-sympathetic sensory actuators, medullary autonomic and respiratory subnuclei, and supramedullary autonomic nuclei. The majority of inputs lay within the brainstem (88-94%), and included putative respiratory neurons in the pre-Bötzinger Complex and post-inspiratory complex that are therefore likely to underlie respiratory-sympathetic coupling. We also discovered a substantial and previously unrecognized input from the region immediately ventral to nucleus prepositus hypoglossi. In contrast, RVLM sympathetic premotor neurons were only sparsely innervated by suprapontine structures including the paraventricular nucleus, lateral hypothalamus, periaqueductal gray, and superior colliculus, and we found almost no evidence of direct inputs from the cortex or amygdala. Our approach can be used to quantify, standardize and share complete neuroanatomical datasets, and therefore provides researchers with a platform for presentation, analysis and independent reanalysis of connectomic data.

Excessive Respiratory Modulation of Blood Pressure Triggers Hypertension.

The etiology of hypertension, the world's biggest killer, remains poorly understood, with treatments targeting the established symptom, not the cause. The development of hypertension involves increased sympathetic nerve activity that, in experimental hypertension, may be driven by excessive respiratory modulation. Using selective viral and cell lesion techniques, we identify adrenergic C1 neurons in the medulla oblongata as critical for respiratory-sympathetic entrainment and the development of experimental hypertension. We also show that a cohort of young, normotensive humans, selected for an exaggerated blood pressure response to exercise and thus increased hypertension risk, has enhanced respiratory-related blood pressure fluctuations. These studies pinpoint a specific neuronal target for ameliorating excessive sympathetic activity during the developmental phase of hypertension and identify a group of pre-hypertensive subjects that would benefit from targeting these cells.

Recording, labeling, and transfection of single neurons in deep brain structures.

Genetic tools that permit functional or connectomic analysis of neuronal circuits are rapidly transforming neuroscience. The key to deployment of such tools is selective transfection of target neurons, but to date this has largely been achieved using transgenic animals or viral vectors that transduce subpopulations of cells chosen according to anatomical rather than functional criteria. Here, we combine single-cell transfection with conventional electrophysiological recording techniques, resulting in three novel protocols that can be used for reliable delivery of conventional dyes or genetic material in vitro and in vivo. We report that techniques based on single cell electroporation yield reproducible transfection in vitro, and offer a simple, rapid and reliable alternative to established dye-labeling techniques in vivo, but are incompatible with targeted transfection in deep brain structures. In contrast, we show that intracellular electrophoresis of plasmid DNA transfects brainstem neurons recorded up to 9 mm deep in the anesthetized rat. The protocols presented here require minimal, if any, modification to recording hardware, take seconds to deploy, and yield high recovery rates in vitro (dye labeling: 89%, plasmid transfection: 49%) and in vivo (dye labeling: 66%, plasmid transfection: 27%). They offer improved simplicity compared to the juxtacellular labeling technique and for the first time offer genetic manipulation of functionally characterized neurons in previously inaccessible brain regions.