The Role of Genetically Characterized Populations of Dorsal Interneurons in Sensorimotor Integration

The coordination of locomotion by the central nervous system depends on proper wiring within and between interneuron populations that make up the complex spinal neuronal networks and on the processing of the multimodal sensory input delivered via afferent neurons to these networks. Genetic studies revealed that at least 8 different groups of interneurons develop from the dorsal aspect of the embryonic neural tube. These dorsal interneurons (dIN) mature to form the various types of tract- and propriospinal neurons that are critical for sensory-motor integration in the central nervous system. The goal of the project is to determine the functional connectivity of known types of dINs and examine their role in the neural control of movements. We use gene targeting and optogenetics as means for tracking and manipulating, activating and silencing identified subpopulations of spinal interneurons that are required for activation of spinal neuronal networks and for sensorimotor integration. This project is done in collaboration with Prof. A. Klar and Y. Hadas in our department (Hadas et al. 2011, Etlin et al, 2011).