Connectivity, neurochemistry and behavioural evaluation of afferents to the first nucleus of the acoustic startle reflex neural circuit: the cochlear root nucleus

• Grant number: 08/02771-6
• Support type: Research Grants - Young Investigators Grants
• Duration: December 01, 2009 - November 30, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Morphology - Anatomy
• Principal researcher: José de Anchieta de Castro e Horta Júnior
• Grantee: José de Anchieta de Castro e Horta Júnior
• Home Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IBB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Botucatu. Botucatu , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The cochlear root neurons are the first neurons in the central nervous system to receive the acoustic information from the cochlea. They are in connection with sensory integration centres in the brainstem, particularly the pontine caudal nucleus. The cochlear root neurons are related with the fundamental neural circuit of the acoustic startle reflex, which is composed by: themselves, the ganglion cells of the organ of Corti, the pontine reticular nucleus, and the spinal cord motoneurons. The acoustic startle reflex shows various modulations such as habituation, sensitization, prepulse inhibition and fear potentiation. The modifications of the acoustic startle reflex and its modulations are important in clinical diagnostics of psychiatric and neurodegenerative illnesses such as schizophrenia and Parkinson's disease. Startle modulations are promoted by influences from several nuclei on the fundamental neural circuit of the startle reflex. The cochlear root nucleus is the least studied nucleus of this circuit. The efferent connections of the cochlear root neurons are well known, however the origins and the neurochemical identity of its afferents remain unclear. Previous studies show that cell bodies and dendrites of the cochlear root neurons are covered by four types of synaptic buttons, suggesting the existence of afferents from different origins and of varying chemical types. Knowledge pertaining to the afferents of the cochlear root neurons is important to comprehend the role of the cochlear root nucleus in startle modulations. We pretend to study the origins of the afferents to the cochlear nucleus by employing track-tracing techniques, identifying the chemical pattern of these afferents by immunohistochemistry, and evaluating the behavioral modifications of startle response after restricted lesions of selected afferent sources. (AU)

Scientific publications

(9)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

COSTA, HELDER C.; DA-SILVA, JOELCIMAR M.; DINIZ, GIOVANNE B.; MOTTA-TEIXEIRA, LIVIA C.; DA-SILVA, RENATA J.; BATTAGELLO, DANIELLA S.; SITA, V, LUCIANE; MACHADO, CARLA DE-MORAES; HORTA-JUNIOR, JOSE A. C.; BITTENCOURT, JACKSON C. Characterisation and origins of melanin-concentrating hormone immunoreactive fibres of the posterior lobe of the pituitary and median eminence during lactation in the Long-Evans rat. Journal of Neuroendocrinology, v. 31, n. 9, SI SEP 2019. Web of Science Citations: 3.

TESSARIN, GESTTER W. L.; MICHALEC, OLA M.; TORRES-DA-SILVA, KELLY R.; DA SILVA, V, ANDRE; CRUZ-RIZZOLO, ROELF J.; GONCALVES, ALAIDE; GASPARINI, DANIELE C.; HORTA-JUNIOR, JOSE A. C.; ERVOLINO, EDILSON; BITTENCOURT, JACKSON C.; LOVEJOY, DAVID A.; CASATTI, CLAUDIO A. A Putative Role of Teneurin-2 and Its Related Proteins in Astrocytes. FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE, v. 13, JUN 27 2019. Web of Science Citations: 0.

HORMIGO, SEBASTIAN; GOMEZ-NIETO, RICARDO; SANCHO, CONSUELO; HERRERO-TURRION, JAVIER; CARRO, JUAN; LOPEZ, DOLORES E.; DE CASTRO E HORTA-JUNIOR, JOSE DE ANCHIETA. Morphological correlates of sex differences in acoustic startle response and prepulse inhibition through projections from locus coeruleus to cochlear root neurons. Brain Structure & Function, v. 222, n. 8, p. 3491-3508, NOV 2017. Web of Science Citations: 5.

TORRES-DA-SILVA, K. R.; DA SILVA, A. V.; BARIONI, N. O.; TESSARIN, G. W. L.; DE OLIVEIRA, J. A.; ERVOLINO, E.; HORTA-JUNIOR, J. A. C.; CASATTI, C. A. Neurochemistry study of spinal cord in non-human primate (Sapajus spp.). EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF HISTOCHEMISTRY, v. 60, n. 3, p. 175-182, 2016. Web of Science Citations: 5.

DOS SANTOS JUNIOR, EDMILSON D.; DA SILVA, ANDRE V.; DA SILVA, KELLY R. T.; HAEMMERLE, CARLOS A. S.; BATAGELLO, DANIELLA S.; DA SILVA, JOELCIMAR M.; LIMA, LEANDRO B.; DA SILVA, RENATA J.; DINIZ, GIOVANNE B.; SITA, LUCIANE V.; ELIAS, CAROL F.; BITTENCOURT, JACKSON C. The centrally projecting Edinger-Westphal nucleus-I: Efferents in the rat brain. Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy, v. 68, p. 22-38, OCT 2015. Web of Science Citations: 13.

HORMIGO, SEBASTIAN; GOMEZ-NIETO, RICARDO; CASTELLANO, ORLANDO; JAVIER HERRERO-TURRION, M.; LOPEZ, DOLORES E.; DE CASTRO E HORTA-JUNIOR, JOSE DE ANCHIETA. The noradrenergic projection from the locus coeruleus to the cochlear root neurons in rats. Brain Structure & Function, v. 220, n. 3, p. 1477-1496, MAY 2015. Web of Science Citations: 8.

GOMEZ-NIETO, RICARDO; SINEX, DONAL G.; HORTA-JUNIOR, JOSE DE ANCHIETA C.; CASTELLANO, ORLANDO; HERRERO-TURRION, JAVIER M.; LOPEZ, DOLORES E. A fast cholinergic modulation of the primary acoustic startle circuit in rats. Brain Structure & Function, v. 219, n. 5, p. 1555-1573, SEP 2014. Web of Science Citations: 6.

GOMEZ-NIETO, RICARDO; HORTA-JUNIOR, JOSE DE ANCHIETA C.; CASTELLANO, ORLANDO; MILLIAN-MORELL, LYMARIE; RUBIO, MARIA E.; LOPEZ, DOLORES E. Origin and function of short-latency inputs to the neural substrates underlying the acoustic startle reflex. FRONTIERS IN NEUROSCIENCE, v. 8, JUL 25 2014. Web of Science Citations: 23.

HORMIGO, SEBASTIAN; DE CASTRO E HORTA JUNIOR, JOSE DE ANCHIETA; GOMEZ-NIETO, RICARDO; LOPEZ, DOLORES E. The selective neurotoxin DSP-4 impairs the noradrenergic projections from the locus coeruleus to the inferior colliculus in rats. FRONTIERS IN NEURAL CIRCUITS, v. 6, JUN 28 2012. Web of Science Citations: 18.