Spinal lumbar dI2 interneurons contribute to stability of bipedal stepping

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Abstract

Peripheral and intraspinal feedback is required to shape and update the output of spinal networks that execute motor behavior. We report that lumbar dI2 spinal interneurons in chicks receive synaptic input from afferents and premotor neurons. These interneurons innervate contralateral premotor networks in the lumbar and brachial spinal cord, and their ascending projections innervate the cerebellum. These findings suggest that dI2 neurons function as interneurons in local lumbar circuits, are involved in lumbo-brachial coupling, and that part of them deliver peripheral and intraspinal feedback to the cerebellum. Silencing of dI2 neurons leads to destabilized stepping in P8 hatchlings, with occasional collapses, variable step profiles and a wide-base walking gait, suggesting that dI2 neurons may contribute to the stabilization of the bipedal gait.

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All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and the supporting files.

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Baruch Haimson

Department of Medical Neurobiology,, IMRIC, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, 91120, Israel, jerusalem, Israel

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-0163-6196
Yoav Hadas

Department of Medical Neurobiology,, IMRIC, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, 91120, Israel, Jerusalem, Israel

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Nimrod Bernat

Department of Medical Neurobiology,, IMRIC, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, 91120, Israel, jerusalem, Israel

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Artur Kania

Anatomy and Cell Biology, Institut de recherches cliniques de Montréal (IRCM), Montreal, Canada

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-5209-2520
Monica A Daley

Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, United States

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Yuval Cinnamon

Institute of Animal Science Poultry and Aquaculture Sci. Dept, Institute of Animal Science Poultry and Aquaculture Sci. Dept. Agricultural Research Organization, The Volcani Center, Israel, Rehovot, Israel

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Aharon Lev-Tov

Department of Medical Neurobiology,, IMRIC, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem, 91120, Israel, Jerisalem, Israel

For correspondence
aharonl@ekmd.huji.ac.il

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Avihu Klar

Medical Neurobiology, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel

For correspondence
avihu@mail.huji.ac.il

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-9248-2179

Funding

Israel Science Foundation

Avihu Klar

US Israel Binational Science Foundation BSF

Avihu Klar

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Ethics

Animal experimentation: All experiments involved with animals were conducted in accordance with the designated Experiments in Animals Ethic Committee policies and under its approval.

Copyright

This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.