Action-based body maps in the spinal cord emerge from a transitory floating organization.
During development primary afferents grow into and establish neuronal connections in the spinal cord, thereby forming the basis for how we perceive sensory information and control our movements. In the somatosensory system, myriads of primary afferents, conveying information from different body locations and sensory modalities, get organized in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord so that spinal multisensory circuits receive topographically ordered information. How this intricate pathfinding is brought about during development is, however, largely unknown. Here we show that a body representation closely related to motor patterns emerges from a transitory floating and plastic organization through profound activity-dependent rewiring, involving both sprouting and elimination of afferent connections, and provide evidence for cross-modality interactions in the alignment of the multisensory input. Thus, far from being inborn and stereotypic, the dorsal horn of the spinal cord now appears to be a highly adaptive brain-body interface.
Granmo
Marcus
M
Neuronano Research Center, Biomedical Center F10, Lund University, S-221 84 Lund, Sweden. marcus.granmo@med.lu.se
Petersson
Per
P
Schouenborg
Jens
J
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D002211:Capsaicin / Q000494:pharmacology; D002772:Cholera Toxin / Q000378:metabolism; D016291:Dizocilpine Maleate / Q000494:pharmacology; D004576:Electromyography; D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D009068:Movement / Q000502:physiology; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000502:physiology; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012018:Reflex / Q000502:physiology; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D013997:Time Factors; D014732:Vibration
D018691:Excitatory Amino Acid Antagonists; C052635:cholera toxin, B subunit-horseradish peroxidase; D016291:Dizocilpine Maleate; D002772:Cholera Toxin; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase; D002211:Capsaicin