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Intrinsic Circuits of the Pontine Respiratory Group Inferred from Correlational Analysis of Large Scale Parallel Recordings
Author(s) -
Morris Kendall F,
Nuding Sarah C,
Segers Lauren S,
Solomon Irene C,
Dick Thomas E,
Shan Roger,
Lindsey Bruce G
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.4.a370-c
Subject(s) - pons , brainstem , neuroscience , respiratory system , neuron , medicine , biology , anatomy
Current models of the respiratory brainstem propose a prominent role for the pons in the regulation of breathing. This study addressed the hypothesis that functional connections among pontine neurons contribute to their respiratory modulated and coordinated activity. Multiple single neuron spike trains were recorded simultaneously with an electrode array in the Pontine Respiratory Group in 10 decerebrate, vagotomized, and ventilated cats. Up to 24 of a total of 122 spike trains were recorded simultaneously; data were analyzed with respiratory cycle triggered histograms, statistical tests of respiratory modulation and the gravity algorithm. Sixty spike trains (49%) were respiratory modulated. Cross correlation analysis of 880 pairs revealed 103 (11.7%) short‐time scale features indicative of paucisynaptic connections. Gravity analysis incorporating recent enhancements (Lindsey & Gerstein 2005) provided evidence for multiple concurrent functional associations consistent with intrinsic pontine circuits. When considered together with results reported in a companion abstract (Nuding et al. 2005), this work supports the hypothesis that both pontine neuron interactions and inputs from multiple medullary sites help to shape respiratory modulated activity patterns in the pons. Support: NIH grants NS46062 (under the NSF‐NIH CRCNP) & NS19814.