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Sensory regulation of spontaneous limb movements in the midstage embryonic chick
1Departmentof Anatomy, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Carbondale, IL; Center for Integrated Research and Cognitive Neural Science, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL.
Insights
Prenatal movement and developmental plasticity are regulated by somatosensation. This study shows sensory regulation functions in chick embryos soon after spinal cord synapse formation, increasing in complexity by embryonic day 11.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Embryology
Background:
- Somatosensation is increasingly recognized for its role in prenatal movement and developmental plasticity.
- Proprioception is implicated in modulating embryonic motility shortly after spinal cord afferent connections form.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of sensation in modulating embryonic movement using novel approaches in chick embryos.
- To explore the functional development of sensory regulation in the embryonic chick spinal cord.
Main Methods:
- Force recordings from chick embryo legs on embryonic days 9 and 11 during spontaneous motility.
- Video analysis of embryonic motility in channelrhodopsin-expressing embryos to activate movement via light stimulation.
Main Results:
- Changes in sensory regulation were observed on embryonic days 9 and 11, indicating functional sensory regulation one day post-synapse formation.
- The complexity of sensory regulation increased between embryonic day 9 and embryonic day 11.
- Novel video data demonstrated activation of embryonic motility using channelrhodopsin in the spinal cord.
Conclusions:
- Sensory regulation is functional early in embryonic development in chick embryos.
- The complexity of sensorimotor integration increases during prenatal development.
- Channelrhodopsin-mediated activation offers a new method for studying sensorimotor development.
Abstract:
It is becoming increasingly apparent that somatosensation plays an important role in regulating prenatal movement and developmental plasticity. Numerous studies performed on embryonic chicks and perinatal rats are beginning to implicate proprioception to be particularly important in modulating motility very soon after afferent connections are made in the spinal cord. In this report, we demonstrate new approaches in the chick embryo to explore the role of sensation in modulating embryonic movement. Force recordings from the legs of chick embryos on E9 and E11, during spontaneous motility, demonstrate changes in sensory regulation consistent with the concept that sensory regulation is functioning one day after sensory synapse formation and that the complexity of this regulation increases by E11. Additionally, we present new video data showing activation of embryonic motility on E5 and E9 in embryos expressing channelrhodopsin in the spinal cord as a novel way to approach the issues of sensorimotor development.
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