Serotonin and whisking.
Rhythmic whisker movements, called "whisking," are produced by a brainstem central pattern generator (CPG) that uses serotonin to induce periodic firing in facial motorneurons. During active touch, motor cortex could regulate whisking frequency by controlling the rate of firing of the serotonergic neurons.
Simons
Daniel J
DJ
Department of Neurobiology, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA.
D000818:Animals; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D009044:Motor Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D012701:Serotonin / Q000502:physiology*; D014738:Vibrissae
D012701:Serotonin