Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
  • SUBSCRIBE

User menu

  • Log in
  • My Cart

Search

  • Advanced search
Journal of Neuroscience
  • Log in
  • My Cart
Journal of Neuroscience

Advanced Search

Submit a Manuscript
  • HOME
  • CONTENT
    • Early Release
    • Featured
    • Current Issue
    • Issue Archive
    • Collections
    • Podcast
  • ALERTS
  • FOR AUTHORS
    • Information for Authors
    • Fees
    • Journal Clubs
    • eLetters
    • Submit
  • EDITORIAL BOARD
  • ABOUT
    • Overview
    • Advertise
    • For the Media
    • Rights and Permissions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Feedback
  • SUBSCRIBE
PreviousNext
Cover ArticleResearch Articles, Development/Plasticity/Repair

Structure of Long-Range Direct and Indirect Spinocerebellar Pathways as Well as Local Spinal Circuits Mediating Proprioception

Iliodora V. Pop, Felipe Espinosa, Cheasequah J. Blevins, Portia C. Okafor, Osita W. Ogujiofor, Megan Goyal, Bishakha Mona, Mark A. Landy, Kevin M. Dean, Channabasavaiah B. Gurumurthy and Helen C. Lai
Journal of Neuroscience 26 January 2022, 42 (4) 581-600; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2157-20.2021
Iliodora V. Pop
1Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Felipe Espinosa
1Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Cheasequah J. Blevins
2Mathematical Biosciences Institute, Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210
3Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, Colorado 80045
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Portia C. Okafor
1Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Osita W. Ogujiofor
1Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Megan Goyal
1Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Bishakha Mona
1Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Mark A. Landy
1Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Mark A. Landy
Kevin M. Dean
4Lyda Hill Department of Bioinformatics, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Channabasavaiah B. Gurumurthy
5Mouse Genome Engineering Core Facility, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska 68198
6Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska 68198
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Channabasavaiah B. Gurumurthy
Helen C. Lai
1Department of Neuroscience, UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75390
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Helen C. Lai
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading

Abstract

Proprioception, the sense of limb and body position, generates a map of the body that is essential for proper motor control, yet we know little about precisely how neurons in proprioceptive pathways are wired. Defining the anatomy of secondary neurons in the spinal cord that integrate and relay proprioceptive and potentially cutaneous information from the periphery to the cerebellum is fundamental to understanding how proprioceptive circuits function. Here, we define the unique anatomic trajectories of long-range direct and indirect spinocerebellar pathways as well as local intersegmental spinal circuits using genetic tools in both male and female mice. We find that Clarke's column neurons, a major contributor to the direct spinocerebellar pathway, has mossy fiber terminals that diversify extensively in the cerebellar cortex with axons terminating bilaterally, but with no significant axon collaterals within the spinal cord, medulla, or cerebellar nuclei. By contrast, we find that two of the indirect pathways, the spino-lateral reticular nucleus and spino-olivary pathways, are in part, derived from cervical Atoh1-lineage neurons, whereas thoracolumbar Atoh1-lineage neurons project mostly locally within the spinal cord. Notably, while cervical and thoracolumbar Atoh1-lineage neurons connect locally with motor neurons, no Clarke's column to motor neuron connections were detected. Together, we define anatomic differences between long-range direct, indirect, and local proprioceptive subcircuits that likely mediate different components of proprioceptive-motor behaviors.

SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT We define the anatomy of long-range direct and indirect spinocerebellar pathways as well as local spinal proprioceptive circuits. We observe that mossy fiber axon terminals of Clarke's column neurons diversify proprioceptive information across granule cells in multiple lobules on both ipsilateral and contralateral sides, sending no significant collaterals within the spinal cord, medulla, or cerebellar nuclei. Strikingly, we find that cervical spinal cord Atoh1-lineage neurons form mainly the indirect spino-lateral reticular nucleus and spino-olivary tracts and thoracolumbar Atoh1-lineage neurons project locally within the spinal cord, whereas only a few Atoh1-lineage neurons form a direct spinocerebellar tract.

  • Atoh1
  • cerebellum
  • Clarke's column
  • proprioception
  • spinal cord
  • spinocerebellar

SfN exclusive license.

View Full Text

Member Log In

Log in using your username and password

Enter your Journal of Neuroscience username.
Enter the password that accompanies your username.
Forgot your user name or password?

Purchase access

You may purchase access to this article. This will require you to create an account if you don't already have one.
Back to top

In this issue

The Journal of Neuroscience: 42 (4)
Journal of Neuroscience
Vol. 42, Issue 4
26 Jan 2022
  • Table of Contents
  • Table of Contents (PDF)
  • About the Cover
  • Index by author
  • Ed Board (PDF)
Email

Thank you for sharing this Journal of Neuroscience article.

NOTE: We request your email address only to inform the recipient that it was you who recommended this article, and that it is not junk mail. We do not retain these email addresses.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Structure of Long-Range Direct and Indirect Spinocerebellar Pathways as Well as Local Spinal Circuits Mediating Proprioception
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from Journal of Neuroscience
(Your Name) thought you would be interested in this article in Journal of Neuroscience.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Print
View Full Page PDF
Citation Tools
Structure of Long-Range Direct and Indirect Spinocerebellar Pathways as Well as Local Spinal Circuits Mediating Proprioception
Iliodora V. Pop, Felipe Espinosa, Cheasequah J. Blevins, Portia C. Okafor, Osita W. Ogujiofor, Megan Goyal, Bishakha Mona, Mark A. Landy, Kevin M. Dean, Channabasavaiah B. Gurumurthy, Helen C. Lai
Journal of Neuroscience 26 January 2022, 42 (4) 581-600; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2157-20.2021

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
Respond to this article
Request Permissions
Share
Structure of Long-Range Direct and Indirect Spinocerebellar Pathways as Well as Local Spinal Circuits Mediating Proprioception
Iliodora V. Pop, Felipe Espinosa, Cheasequah J. Blevins, Portia C. Okafor, Osita W. Ogujiofor, Megan Goyal, Bishakha Mona, Mark A. Landy, Kevin M. Dean, Channabasavaiah B. Gurumurthy, Helen C. Lai
Journal of Neuroscience 26 January 2022, 42 (4) 581-600; DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2157-20.2021
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Jump to section

  • Article
    • Abstract
    • Introduction
    • Materials and Methods
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Footnotes
    • References
  • Figures & Data
  • Info & Metrics
  • eLetters
  • PDF

Keywords

  • Atoh1
  • cerebellum
  • Clarke's column
  • proprioception
  • spinal cord
  • spinocerebellar

Responses to this article

Respond to this article

Jump to comment:

No eLetters have been published for this article.

Related Articles

Cited By...

More in this TOC Section

Research Articles

  • Oxidative stress-induced damage to the developing hippocampus is mediated by GSK3beta
  • Disruption of endosomal sorting in Schwann cells leads to defective myelination and endosomal abnormalities observed in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
  • Depolarizing NaV and hyperpolarizing KV channels are co-trafficked in sensory neurons
Show more Research Articles

Development/Plasticity/Repair

  • Oxidative stress-induced damage to the developing hippocampus is mediated by GSK3beta
  • The Nogo-66 Receptors NgR1 and NgR3 Are Required for Commissural Axon Pathfinding
  • Mllt11 Regulates Migration and Neurite Outgrowth of Cortical Projection Neurons during Development
Show more Development/Plasticity/Repair
  • Home
  • Alerts
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Facebook
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on Twitter
  • Follow Society for Neuroscience on LinkedIn
  • Visit Society for Neuroscience on Youtube
  • Follow our RSS feeds

Content

  • Early Release
  • Current Issue
  • Issue Archive
  • Collections

Information

  • For Authors
  • For Advertisers
  • For the Media
  • For Subscribers

About

  • About the Journal
  • Editorial Board
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
(JNeurosci logo)
(SfN logo)

Copyright © 2022 by the Society for Neuroscience.
JNeurosci Online ISSN: 1529-2401

The ideas and opinions expressed in JNeurosci do not necessarily reflect those of SfN or the JNeurosci Editorial Board. Publication of an advertisement or other product mention in JNeurosci should not be construed as an endorsement of the manufacturer’s claims. SfN does not assume any responsibility for any injury and/or damage to persons or property arising from or related to any use of any material contained in JNeurosci.