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Pharmacological profile of vestibular inhibitory inputs to superior oblique motoneurons

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Abstract

Vestibulo-ocular reflexes (VOR) are mediated by three-neuronal brainstem pathways that transform semicircular canal and otolith sensory signals into motor commands for the contraction of spatially specific sets of eye muscles. The vestibular excitation and inhibition of extraocular motoneurons underlying this reflex is reciprocally organized and allows coordinated activation of particular eye muscles and concurrent relaxation of their antagonistic counterparts. Here, we demonstrate in isolated preparations of Xenopus laevis tadpoles that the discharge modulation of superior oblique motoneurons during cyclic head motion derives from an alternating excitation and inhibition. The latter component is mediated exclusively by GABA, at variance with the glycinergic inhibitory component in lateral rectus motoneurons. The different pharmacological profile of the inhibition correlates with rhombomere-specific origins of vestibulo-ocular projection neurons and the complementary segmental abundance of GABAergic and glycinergic vestibular neurons. The evolutionary conserved rhombomeric topography of vestibulo-ocular projections makes it likely that a similar pharmacological organization of inhibitory VOR neurons as reported here for anurans is also implemented in mammalian species including humans.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge financial support from the German Science Foundation (CRC 870; STR 478/3-1) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research under the Grant code 01 EO 0901. The authors thank Kathrin Gensberger for the technical support in part of the experiments and Dr. Boris Chagnaud for constructive comments on the manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. Parthena Soupiadou and Francisco Branoner contributed equally to this study.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department Biology II, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152, Planegg, Germany

    Parthena Soupiadou, Francisco Branoner & Hans Straka

  2. Graduate School of Systemic Neurosciences, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Großhaderner Str. 2, 82152, Planegg, Germany

    Parthena Soupiadou

Authors
  1. Parthena Soupiadou
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  2. Francisco Branoner
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  3. Hans Straka
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hans Straka.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Ethical standard

The study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards statement.

Additional information

This manuscript is part of a supplement sponsored by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research within the funding initiative for integrated research and treatment centers.

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Soupiadou, P., Branoner, F. & Straka, H. Pharmacological profile of vestibular inhibitory inputs to superior oblique motoneurons. J Neurol 265 (Suppl 1), 18–25 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-018-8829-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-018-8829-4

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