The encoding of touch by somatotopically aligned dorsal column subdivisions

Turecek, Josef; Lehnert, Brendan P.; Ginty, David D.

doi:10.1038/s41586-022-05470-x

Cited by 24 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Although the DRG neurons are the main inputs to the DCN, it would also be interesting to explore other long-range excitatory inputs, local or feedback inhibition which might jointly shape the output of DCN and thus the outcome of the perception and behaviour 30 . Consistent with the results of recent studies 9,36 , we confirmed by pharmacological inactivation of the spinal dorsal horn ( Extended Data Fig. 10a-b ), that the indirect dorsal column pathway does not contribute significantly to the encoding of high frequency vibration in the DCN.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

“…The dura was removed from the spinal cord using fine forceps. Drug delivery followed the previous established protocol 9 . The non-competitive NMDA receptor antagonist MK-801 (10 mM, 10 µl, Abcam; dissolved in 90% H2O and 10% DMSO) was applied to the surface of the spinal cord and allowed to enter the cord for 3–5 min.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Most of LTMRs either directly synapse on neurons of the cuneate (upper body) and gracile nuclei (lower body) of the DCN or indirectly connect through spinal cord dorsal horn to the brainstem 7,8 , from where the information further ascends via the ventral posterolateral thalamus (VPL) to the somatosensory cortex (S1) to form a conscious somatosensory percept [9][10][11] .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Whereas the different end-organ complexes likely play crucial roles in the mechanotransduction at the site of stimulation, the LTMRs transmit this information to the central nervous system 5,6 . Most of LTMRs either directly synapse on neurons of the cuneate (upper body) and gracile nuclei (lower body) of the DCN or indirectly connect through spinal cord dorsal horn to the brainstem 7,8 , from where the information further ascends via the ventral posterolateral thalamus (VPL) to the somatosensory cortex (S1) to form a conscious somatosensory percept 9–11 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Emergence of a somatosensory tonotopic map for substrate vibration in the brainstem

Lee,

Wagner,

Sanders

et al. 2023

Preprint

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Perceiving substrate vibrations is a fundamental component of tactile perception. The wide frequency spectrum of vibrations is covered by integrating responses of multiple mechanoreceptors that innervate various subtypes of mechanosensitive end organs, each preferring a specific range: Merkel cells (0.5-10Hz), Meissner corpuscles (10-150Hz) and Pacinian corpuscles (150-1000Hz) in primates. As the density of different end organs greatly varies across the body, each body part potentially has a specific frequency preference. How location (somatotopy) and frequency tuning (tonotopy) are processed along the ascending neuraxis and how they converge to drive responses of individual neurons is poorly understood. In this study, we address this question by combiningin vivoperipheral electrophysiology and two-photon calcium imaging along the entire dorsal column-medial lemniscal pathway, including the dorsal root ganglia, dorsal column nuclei (DCN), the thalamus and the cortex. Surprisingly, we found that both frequency, as well as location, are organised into structured maps in the DCN. Furthermore, both maps are intimately related at the fine spatial scale with parallel map gradients that are consistent across the depth of the DCN and preserved along the ascending pathway. Additional sensory mapping experiments based on peripheral characterisation revealed that the tonotopic map only partially reflects the distribution of end organs in the skin and deep tissue. Instead, we show that the emergence of the finescale tonotopy is probably due to the selective dendritic sampling from axonal afferents, right at the first synaptic relay. Taken together, we conclude DCN neural circuits are key to the emergence of these two fine-scale topological organisations in early somatosensory pathways. The underlying computational principle is intriguingly similar to the integration of multiple functional maps along the ascending visual pathways, suggesting a universal law governing the optimization of sensory systems.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 92%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Emergence of a somatosensory tonotopic map for substrate vibration in the brainstem

Lee,

Wagner,

Sanders

et al. 2023

Preprint

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“…For Pacinians, vibration tuning curves were collected using a custom-built mechanical stimulator as previously described 38 . Vibrations were generated by a DC motor with a blunt probe (3 mm diameter).…”

Section: Mechanical Stimuli (Anesthetized)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Coding of self and environment by Pacinian neurons in freely moving animals

Turecek,

Ginty

2023

Preprint

Self Cite

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Pacinian corpuscle neurons are specialized low-threshold mechanoreceptors (LTMRs) that are exquisitely tuned to high-frequency vibration (~40-1000 Hz). Although much is known about their tuning properties, it is unclear how Pacinians encode naturalistic behavior. Here, we developed a technique to record from Pacinian neurons and other LTMRs in awake, freely moving mice. We find that Pacinian LTMRs can robustly respond to self-generated vibrations caused by movement alone. Pacinians are highly active during a wide variety of natural behaviors, including grooming, digging, and climbing. Pacinians in the hindlimb are sensitive enough to be activated by forelimb- or upper-body-dominant behaviors. Strikingly, Pacinians can uniquely and reliably encode subtle vibrations of surfaces encountered by the animal, including low-amplitude vibrations initiated over two meters away. Finally, as a population, there is a broad range of Pacinian responses during natural behaviors and environmental vibrations, and an individual Pacinians responsiveness is strongly dependent on its distinct sensitivity and frequency tuning. Thus, Pacinian corpuscle LTMRs, with their varying sensitivities, frequency tuning, and body distributions, collectively encode a wealth of vibro-tactile features of self-initiated movements and the environment.

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Mechanically Robust Photonic‐Ionic Skin Cross‐Linked by Metal–Imidazole Interactions

Sun,

Wang,

et al. 2024

Adv Funct Materials

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Photonic‐ionic skins (PI‐skins) featuring multi‐signal synergistic outputs exhibit fascinating interactive sensing potential in flexible iononics. However, the existing ones are susceptible to irreversible damage in usage due to their poor toughness and deficiency in self‐healing. Herein, a novel tough mechanochromic PI‐skin is ingeniously constructed, from both molecular engineering and nanostructural engineering perspectives, via integrating the ordered photonic array and robust metal‐imidazole cross‐linked network. The PI‐skin displays synchronous structural color variation and sensitive electrical response under strain. Notably, the synergy of dense physical cross‐linking network and microphase‐separation structure achieved by strong metal‐imidazole coordination greatly promotes energy dissipation. PI‐skin possesses a combination of exceptional properties, including high fracture strength (8.22 MPa), remarkable toughness (10.23 MJ m−3), and robust adhesion behavior (2.30 MPa). Furthermore, favorable self‐healing capability at room temperature is realized thanks to the dynamic topological rearrangement of metal‐imidazole coordination. The PI‐skin demonstrates promising uses as a visually interactive wearable device for human motion monitoring and remote communication. This work not only broadens design considerations for the development of high‐performance artificial skins but also offers a general optical platform for high‐level interactive wearable devices.

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The encoding of touch by somatotopically aligned dorsal column subdivisions

Cited by 24 publications

References 60 publications

Emergence of a somatosensory tonotopic map for substrate vibration in the brainstem

Emergence of a somatosensory tonotopic map for substrate vibration in the brainstem

Coding of self and environment by Pacinian neurons in freely moving animals

Mechanically Robust Photonic‐Ionic Skin Cross‐Linked by Metal–Imidazole Interactions

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