A spatially dynamic network underlies the generation of inspiratory behaviors
Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: The ability of neuronal networks to reconfigure is a key property underlying behavioral flexibility. Networks with recurrent topology are particularly prone to reconfiguration through changes in synaptic and intrinsic properties. Here, we explore spatial reconfiguration in the reticular networks of the medulla that generate breathing. Combined results from in vitro and in vivo approaches demonstrate that the network architecture underlying generation of the inspiratory phase of breathing is not static but can be spatially redistributed by shifts in the balance of excitatory and inhibitory network influences. These shifts in excitation/inhibition allow the size of the active network to expand and contract along a rostrocaudal medullary column during behavioral or metabolic challenges to breathing, such as changes in sensory feedback, sighing, and gasping. We postulate that the ability of this rhythm-generating network to spatially reconfigure contributes to the remarkable robustness and flexibility of breathing.
Language: English
Subfield: Endocrine and Autonomic Systems
Field: Neuroscience
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Awards: Integrative Consequences of Hypoxia, The role of Dbx1-derived medullary neurons for rhythm generation in the intact respiratory network, Integrative Consequences of Intermittent Hypoxia, Homeostatic Plasticity of the Respiratory Rhythm Generating Network, Unraveling the dynamic mechanisms underlying opioid respiratory depression, Unraveling respiratory rhythm generation in medullary and supramedullary networks
OpenAlex ID: W2924100651