Award Abstract # 0924155
Collaborative Research: The neurobiology of dopamine in the leech and the modulation of locomotor behaviors
| NSF Org: | IOS Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems |
| Recipient: | |
| Initial Amendment Date: | July 29, 2009 |
| Latest Amendment Date: | March 13, 2012 |
| Award Number: | 0924155 |
| Award Instrument: | Standard Grant |
| Program Manager: | Mary Ann Asson-Batres IOS Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems BIO Direct For Biological Sciences |
| Start Date: | August 1, 2009 |
| End Date: | September 30, 2013(Estimated) |
| Total Intended Award Amount: | $449,510.00 |
| Total Awarded Amount to Date: | $449,510.00 |
| Funds Obligated to Date: | |
| ARRA Amount: | $449,510.00 |
| History of Investigator: |
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| Recipient Sponsored Research Office: | 200 OAK ST SE MINNEAPOLIS MN US 55455-2009 (612)624-5599 |
| Sponsor Congressional District: | |
| Primary Place of Performance: | 200 OAK ST SE MINNEAPOLIS MN US 55455-2009 |
| Primary Place of Performance Congressional District: | |
| Unique Entity Identifier (UEI): | |
| Parent UEI: | |
| NSF Program(s): | Modulation |
| Primary Program Source: | |
| Program Reference Code(s): | |
| Program Element Code(s): | |
| Award Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Fund Agency Code: | 4900 |
| Assistance Listing Number(s): | 47.082 |
ABSTRACT Dopamine (DA) is an important and universal modulator of motor control, but neuroscientists have yet to determine precisely how DA-containing neurons and their targeted circuitry choreograph specific locomotor programs. This has been an especially daunting task in studying the control and initiation of locomotion in higher vertebrate systems. Related to this issue of locomotor regulation is the idea of decision-making, and how one form of locomotion is selected instead of another, for example, the choice between crawling vs. swimming. This collaborative research project is addressing such important questions at the level of single identified neurons; often at times while the intact animal is behaving. The simpler nervous system of the leech, Hirudo medicinalis, was selected for study because it contains relatively large and physiologically accessible neurons and a hierarchical circuit organization, thus facilitating studies of locomotion, body movement and descending control. Specifically, the collaborative research team is characterizing constituents of the pattern-generating network underlying crawling-related behavior, and determining how DA changes the properties of neurons to facilitate their participation in crawling. This approach will lead naturally to an understanding of the neuronal bases of decision-making, because it has been found that whenever DA triggers crawling then swimming is inhibited. The collaborative research team will use a variety of behavioral, electrophysiological, and anatomical methods to study how DA promotes crawling behavior. They will also image neuronal circuits influenced by DA using a state-of-the-art voltage sensitive dye imaging system. Many of the experiments being conducted involve graduate and undergraduate students. Other experiments, with minor modification, incorporate the participation of younger K-12 students. The collaboration with Dr. Crisp at St. Olaf College, an undergraduate-only research institution, provides an additional and valuable exchange of undergraduate training and mentoring opportunities. The projects and technological components of the proposal are inherently integrative, spanning disciplines from Animal Behavior to Cell Biology/Neurobiology, Computational Neuroscience, Physics, and Engineering.
This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
PUBLICATIONS PRODUCED AS A RESULT OF THIS RESEARCH
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Puhl, JG; Mesce, KA "Keeping It Together: Mechanisms of Intersegmental Coordination for a Flexible Locomotor Behavior" JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE , v.30 , 2010 , p.2373 View record at Web of Science 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5765-09.201
Gaudry, Q; Kristan, WB "Behavioral choice by presynaptic inhibition of tactile sensory terminals" NATURE NEUROSCIENCE , v.12 , 2009 , p.1450 View record at Web of Science 10.1038/nn.240
Karen A. Mesce1 and Jonathan T. Pierce-Shimomura "Shared strategies for behavioral switching: understanding how locomotor patterns are turned on and off" Frontiers in Behavioral Nneuroscience , v.4 , 2010 , p.1 doi: 10.3389/fnbeh.2010.00049on
Ferguson JE, Boldt C, Puhl JG, Stigen TW, Jackson JC, Crisp KM, Mesce KA, Netoff TI, Redish AD "Nanowires precisely grown on the ends of microwire electrodes permit the recording of intracellular action potentials within deeper neural structures" Nanomedicine (Lond) , v.8 , 2012 , p.427
Mustard, J A., V. Vergoz, Mesce, KA, Klukas, KA, Beggs, K.T., Geddes, L.H, McQuillam, J., Mercer, A.R "Dopamine signaling in the bee" Neurobiol. and Behav , v.3 , 2011 , p.199
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