Multimodal convergence in the pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus: motor,
sensory and theta-frequency inputs influence activity of single neurons
Abstract
The pedunculopontine tegmental nucleus of the brainstem (PPTg) has
extensive interconnections and neuronal-behavioural correlates. It is
implicated in movement control and sensorimotor integration. We
investigated whether single neuron activity in freely moving rats is
correlated with components of skilled forelimb movement, and whether
individual neurons respond to both motor and sensory events. We found
that individual PPTg neurons showed changes in firing rate at different
times during the reach. This type of temporally specific modulation is
like activity seen elsewhere in voluntary movement control circuits,
such as the motor cortex, and suggests that PPTg neural activity is
related to different specific events occurring during the reach. In
particular, many neuronal modulations were time-locked to the end of the
extension phase of the reach, when fine distal movements related to food
grasping occur, indicating strong engagement of PPTg in this phase of
skilled individual forelimb movements. In addition, some neurons showed
brief periods of apparent oscillatory firing in the theta range at
specific phases of the reach-to-grasp movement. When movement-related
neurons were tested with tone stimuli, many also responded to this
auditory input, allowing for sensorimotor integration at the cellular
level. Together, these data extend the concept of the PPTg as an
integrative structure in generation of complex movements, by showing
that this function extends to the highly coordinated control of the
forelimb during skilled reach to grasp movement, and that sensory and
motor-related information converges on single neurons, allowing for
direct integration at the cellular level.