Journal
CURRENT BIOLOGY
Volume 31, Issue 7, Pages 1463-+Publisher
CELL PRESS
DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2021.01.045
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Funding
- NIH [R01NS39600]
- Max-Planck Society
- NIH BRAIN Initiative [1U19NS10465301]
- BMBF [01GQ1904]
- Helmholtz Association
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This study investigates rheotaxis in larval zebrafish using the lateral line system, finding structural constancy among lateral-line afferent neurons (LANs) and that precise topographic mapping of lateral-line receptors is not essential for the behavior. The data suggest that the integration of signals from direction-selective LANs influences the encoding of water-flow direction in the brain.
Animals have a remarkable ability to use local cues to orient in space in the absence of a panoramic fixed reference frame. Here we use the mechanosensory lateral line in larval zebrafish to understand rheotaxis, an innate oriented swimming evoked by water currents. We generated a comprehensive light-microscopy cell-resolution projectome of lateralis afferent neurons (LANs) and used clustering techniques for morphological classification. We find surprising structural constancy among LANs. Laser-mediated microlesions indicate that precise topographic mapping of lateral-line receptors is not essential for rheotaxis. Recording neuronal-activity during controlled mechanical stimulation of neuromasts reveals unequal representation of water-flow direction in the hindbrain. We explored potential circuit architectures constrained by anatomical and functional data to suggest a parsimonious model under which the integration of lateralized signals transmitted by direction-selective LANs underlies the encoding of water-flow direction in the brain. These data provide a new framework to understand how animals use local mechanical cues to orient in space.
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