1. Breathing control center neurons that promote arousal in mice
- Author
-
Yackle, Kevin, Schwarz, Lindsay A, Kam, Kaiwen, Sorokin, Jordan M, Huguenard, John R, Feldman, Jack L, Luo, Liqun, and Krasnow, Mark A
- Subjects
Behavioral and Social Science ,Mental Health ,Basic Behavioral and Social Science ,Neurosciences ,Underpinning research ,1.1 Normal biological development and functioning ,Neurological ,Animals ,Arousal ,Cadherins ,Homeodomain Proteins ,Locus Coeruleus ,Mice ,Mice ,Mutant Strains ,Neurons ,Panic Disorder ,Respiration ,General Science & Technology - Abstract
Slow, controlled breathing has been used for centuries to promote mental calming, and it is used clinically to suppress excessive arousal such as panic attacks. However, the physiological and neural basis of the relationship between breathing and higher-order brain activity is unknown. We found a neuronal subpopulation in the mouse preBötzinger complex (preBötC), the primary breathing rhythm generator, which regulates the balance between calm and arousal behaviors. Conditional, bilateral genetic ablation of the ~175 Cdh9/Dbx1 double-positive preBötC neurons in adult mice left breathing intact but increased calm behaviors and decreased time in aroused states. These neurons project to, synapse on, and positively regulate noradrenergic neurons in the locus coeruleus, a brain center implicated in attention, arousal, and panic that projects throughout the brain.
- Published
- 2017