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Related Experiment Videos

Brainstem circuits regulating gastric function.

R Alberto Travagli1, Gerlinda E Hermann, Kirsteen N Browning

  • 1Department of Neuroscience, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University System, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70808, USA. travagra@pbrc.edu

Annual Review of Physiology
|February 8, 2006
PubMed
Summary

Brainstem circuits control stomach digestion via vagal nerve pathways. Neurotransmitters and hormones make these digestive reflexes adaptable, demonstrating significant plasticity.

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Gastroenterology
  • Autonomic Nervous System Research

Background:

  • Brainstem parasympathetic circuits, involving the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS) and dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus (DMV), regulate gastric functions.
  • Neuronal communication within these circuits is known to be plastic and influenced by various factors.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review the fundamental organization of vagal control of gastric function.
  • To investigate the opioidergic modulation of NTS-DMV connections as a mechanism for reflex plasticity.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on vago-vagal gastric control neurocircuitry.
  • Presentation of data illustrating opioidergic modulation of NTS-DMV neuronal communication.

Main Results:

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  • Vago-vagal gastric control neurocircuitry exhibits a "static" organization and function.
  • Opioidergic modulation demonstrates how neurotransmitters, hormones, and afferent input "gate" these reflexes, rendering them plastic.

Conclusions:

  • Central nervous system inputs, hormonal feedback, and digestive processes dynamically regulate vago-vagal reflex sensitivity.
  • Autonomic reflexes, initially static, can become highly plastic through mechanisms like opioidergic modulation.