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New role for sensory signals in the brain

Findings could help lead to new treatments for Parkinson's disease, psychiatric disorders

Date:
April 11, 2019
Source:
Rutgers University
Summary:
Learning how to tie a shoe or shoot a basketball isn't easy, but the brain somehow integrates sensory signals that are critical to coordinating movements so you can get it right. Now, scientists have discovered that sensory signals in the brain's cerebral cortex, which plays a key role in controlling movement and other functions, have a different pattern of connections between nerve cells and different effects on behavior than motor signals. The motor area of the cortex sends signals to stimulate muscles.
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Learning how to tie a shoe or shoot a basketball isn't easy, but the brain somehow integrates sensory signals that are critical to coordinating movements so you can get it right.

Now, Rutgers scientists have discovered that sensory signals in the brain's cerebral cortex, which plays a key role in controlling movement and other functions, have a different pattern of connections between nerve cells and different effects on behavior than motor signals. The motor area of the cortex sends signals to stimulate muscles.

The research on neural signals, published in the journal Current Biology, could help lead to new treatments for movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease and Huntington's disease or psychiatric conditions such as obsessive compulsive disorder.

Scientists at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Rutgers-Newark investigated a brain region called the striatum in mice. The striatum, which integrates signals from the sensory and motor areas of the cerebral cortex, is severely compromised in diseases such as Parkinson's and Huntington's.

"We found that stimulation of sensory cortex signals caused mice to stop their actions during a behavioral task, but motor cortex signals caused them to perform the task more impulsively," said senior author David J. Margolis, an assistant professor in the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience in the School of Arts and Sciences at Rutgers-New Brunswick.

Future research will investigate the patterns of signaling between the cerebral cortex and striatum during different types of learning paradigms in mice to understand nerve cell connection mechanisms. The ultimate goal is to understand how abnormal cortex-striatum signaling is involved in neurological and psychiatric disorders.


Story Source:

Materials provided by Rutgers University. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Christian R. Lee, Alex J. Yonk, Joost Wiskerke, Kenneth G. Paradiso, James M. Tepper, David J. Margolis. Opposing Influence of Sensory and Motor Cortical Input on Striatal Circuitry and Choice Behavior. Current Biology, 2019; DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2019.03.028

Cite This Page:

Rutgers University. "New role for sensory signals in the brain." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 11 April 2019. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190411145134.htm>.
Rutgers University. (2019, April 11). New role for sensory signals in the brain. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 10, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190411145134.htm
Rutgers University. "New role for sensory signals in the brain." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/04/190411145134.htm (accessed October 10, 2024).

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