Issue Archive

Development of neural correlates of linear motion in the rat vestibular nucleus

Chun-Wai Ma, Chun-Hong Lai, Lei Han, Francisco Paulo De Nogueira Botelho, Daisy Kwok-Yan Shum, Ying-Shing Chan

Departments of 1Physiology and Biochemistry, and Research Centre of Heart, Brain, Hormone and Healthy Aging, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

Abstract

The capability of the central vestibular system in utilizing cues arising from the inner ear determines the ability of animals to acquire the sense of head orientations in the three-dimensional space and to shape postural movements. During development, neurons in the vestibular nucleus (VN) show significant changes in their electrophysiological properties. An age-dependent enhancement of membrane excitability is accompanied by a progressive increase in firing rate and discharge regularity. The coding of horizontal and vertical linear motions also exhibits developmental refinement in VN neurons. Further, modification of cell surface receptors, such as glutamate receptors, of developing VN neurons are well-orchestrated in the course of maturation, thereby regulating synaptic efficacy and spatial coding capacity of these neurons in local circuits. Taken together, these characteristic features of VN neurons contribute to developmental establishment of space-centered coordinates within the brain.

Key words: spatial recognition; vestibular nucleus; otolith organs; linear acceleration; development

Received: 　　Accepted:

Corresponding author: 黎振航　　E-mail: chlaib@hku.hk

Citing This Article：

Chun-Wai Ma, Chun-Hong Lai, Lei Han, Francisco Paulo De Nogueira Botelho, Daisy Kwok-Yan Shum, Ying-Shing Chan. Development of neural correlates of linear motion in the rat vestibular nucleus. Acta Physiol Sin 2014; 66 (1): 37-46 (in Chinese with English abstract).