Brainstem regions with neuronal activity patterns correlated with priming of locomotor stepping in the anesthetized rat

Abstract

Locomotor stimulation in the perifornical hypothalamus produces a transient facilitation of subsequent locomotion, a priming effect, such that stepping to a second train of stimulation occurs with a shorter latency of onset and increased amplitude. Neurons responsible for the initiation of this facilitated stepping presumably respond to locomotor stimulation with a similar priming effect, i.e. either a shorter latency or a larger change in activity rate. This study used anesthetized rats (urethane, 800 mg/kg) to compare brainstem regions in terms of the relative rates of occurrence of single neurons that showed both specific responses to locomotor stimulation and also priming effects. Specific responses were characterized by a progressive increase in activity prior to the first step (a Type I pattern). In that they co-varied in time with the increased probability of stepping onset, Type I responses were more specific than Type II responses, which peaked early in the stimulation train several seconds before the onset of stepping. Regions with high proportions of neurons showing Type I responses and priming effects included the anterior dorsal tegmentum lateral to the central gray, the oral pontine reticular nucleus and the medial gigantocellular nucleus. Few Type I neurons showed a modulation of activity related to the step cycle. Type I primed neurons were uncommon in the cuneiform and the pedunculopontine regions, but neurons showing other patterns (decreases and antidromic responses) were relatively prevalent there. The ventral tegmental area was generally unresponsive. The results indicate that stepping elicited by perifornical stimulation in the anesthetized rat is mediated by circuits that differ at midbrain levels from the circuits implicated in other types of locomotion. Two regions, the anterior dorsal tegmentum and the oral pontine reticular nucleus, warrant further attention to determine their possible roles in the initiation of locomotion.