PUBLICATION

Large-Scale Analysis of the Diversity and Complexity of the Adult Spinal Cord Neurotransmitter Typology

Authors: Pedroni, A., Ampatzis, K.
ID: ZDB-PUB-190923-1
Date: 2019
Source: iScience 19: 1189-1201 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Keywords: Biological Sciences, Neuroanatomy, Neuroscience, Systems Neuroscience
MeSH Terms: none
PubMed: 31542702 Full text @ iScience

Abstract

The development of nervous system atlases is a fundamental pursuit in neuroscience, since they constitute a fundamental tool to improve our understanding of the nervous system and behavior. As such, neurotransmitter maps are valuable resources to decipher the nervous system organization and functionality. We present here the first comprehensive quantitative map of neurons found in the adult zebrafish spinal cord. Our study overlays detailed information regarding the anatomical positions, sizes, neurotransmitter phenotypes, and the projection patterns of the spinal neurons. We also show that neurotransmitter co-expression is much more extensive than previously assumed, suggesting that spinal networks are more complex than first recognized. As a first direct application, we investigated the neurotransmitter diversity in the putative glutamatergic spinal V2a-interneuron assembly. These studies shed new light on the diverse and complex functions of this important interneuron class in the neuronal interplay governing the precise operation of the central pattern generators.

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