Presentation Details
| Functional architecture in the interoceptive brainstem Chen Ran1, 2, Jack C.Boettcher2, Judith A.Kaye2, Catherine E.Gallori1, 2, Yandan Wang2, Stephen D.Liberles2. 1Department of Neuroscience, Dorris Neuroscience Center, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA.2Department of Cell Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA |
Abstract
Our external senses of sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste enable us to perceive the external world. In addition, our interoceptive system monitors the physiological state of peripheral organs. This bodily sensory system orchestrates multi-organ physiological responses, regulating feeding, drinking, sickness behaviors, and generating the internal senses such as satiety, hunger, nausea, malaise, and visceral pain. However, despite the scientific and clinical importance, the principles that define visceral sensory processing remain poorly defined. Previously, we developed an in vivo two-photon mouse brainstem calcium imaging preparation to understand internal organ representations in the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS), the interoceptive gateway in the brain. Combining the imaging platform with stimulation of multiple visceral organs, we uncover diverse neuronal responses to internal stimuli, while functionally defined cell types are highly organized within the NTS. Using state-of-the-art spatially patterned in vivo brainstem optogenetics, we precisely stimulate different neuronal ensembles and show that spatial domains of the NTS differentially modulate autonomic functions. Using mouse genetics and functional manipulations of specific brainstem circuits, we reveal viscerosensory information streams that have distinct functions. Our study defines the functional architecture of brainstem viscerosensory pathways, laying the foundation for future research to understand interoceptive processing throughout the brain.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.