Claire Wyart
Institut du Cerveau et de la Moelle épinière-UPMC CNRS, France
Title: Investigation of sensory interface relaying information from cerebrospinal fluid to motor circuits
Biography
Biography: Claire Wyart
Abstract
The cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is a complex solution circulating around the brain and spinal cord. Behavior has long been known to be influenced by the content and flow of the CSF, but the underlying mechanisms are completely unknown. CSF-contacting neurons by their location at the interface with the CSF are in ideal position to sense CSF cues and to relay information to the nervous system. By combining electrophysiology, optogenetics, bioluminescence monitoring with calcium imaging in vivo, we demonstrate that neurons contacting the CSF in the spinal cord detect local bending and in turn feedback GABAergic inhibition to multiple interneurons drives locomotion in the ventral spinal cord. Behavior analysis of animals deprived of this mechano-sensory pathway reveals its contribution in modulating frequency and duration of locomotion. Altogether our approach developed in a transparent animal model shed light on a novel pathway enabling sensory motor integration between the CSF and motor circuits in the spinal cord.