Learning in sensorimotor circuits.

Jens Schouenborg

doi:10.1016/j.conb.2004.10.009

Home/Archive/PubMed

PubMed · 15582370

Learning in sensorimotor circuits.

Jens Schouenborg

View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

The study of plasticity in the central nervous system is a major and very dynamic neuroscience research field with enormous clinical potential. Considerable advances in this field have been made during the past 10 years. It now appears that most circuits in the brain and spinal cord show plasticity and that they can be modified by experience. Knowledge of the mechanisms of plasticity in the nervous system is therefore essential for the understanding of how the nervous system is wired during development and how it adapts in response to changes in the body and environment. Recent findings indicate that functional sensorimotor modules probe the sensory signals from the body that are generated as a consequence of module specific activity and use this sensory feedback to calibrate the strength in its input-output connections. This experience-dependent signal adapts the circuitry in the sensorimotor module to the body anatomy and biomechanics.

Explore related subjects

Adaptation, Physiological Animals Central Nervous System Feedback Humans Learning Movement Neural Pathways Neuronal Plasticity Sensation Synaptic Transmission Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Review

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeX RIS

Jens Schouenborg. 2004. Learning in sensorimotor circuits.. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conb.2004.10.009

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related citations

PubMed2025

Genome sequencing and population genetics provide insights into local adaptation of Opisthopappus species on cliff environments of Taihang Mountains.

Local adaptation represents a pivotal theme in evolutionary biology. The Opisthopappus genus, comprising Opisthopappus longilobus and O. taihangensis, thrives on the cliffs of the Taihang Mountains. During their evolutionary history, two species are hypothesized to have locally adapted to their cliff habitats. In the present study, we employed a combined approach of whole-genome sequencing of O. taihangensis and population genomic analysis from both species to gain deeper insights into their patterns of local adaptation. Our results revealed that the expansive genome of O. taihangensis (3010.18 Mb), a consequence of a whole-genome duplication (WGD) event, coupled with a high proportion of repetitive sequences (82.70%), was postulated as one of its adaptive strategies. A clear differentiation between O. taihangensis and O. longilobus was observed, with the two species diverging approximately 17.57 million years ago (Mya), with O. longilobus serving as the ancestor. Since their divergence, limited gene flow was observed between the two species. Post-divergence, the effective population sizes of both species expanded, yet underwent a dramatic reduction at approximately 0.07 Mya. Furthermore, a total of 798 adaptive genes were identified, of which 207 overlapped with expanded genes, and eight genes were found to be under positive selection. These genes primarily regulated the growth and development of both species via pathways such as oxidation-reduction and ubiquitin-proteasome, enabling them to withstand climate changes. These findings provide profound insights into the local adaptation of Opisthopappus species to the cliff environments and offer valuable clues for further exploring the local adaptation among various cliff-dwelling organisms.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed2015

Variation in Drosophila melanogaster central metabolic genes appears driven by natural selection both within and between populations.

In this report, we examine the hypothesis that the drivers of latitudinal selection observed in the eastern US Drosophila melanogaster populations are reiterated within seasons in a temperate orchard population in Pennsylvania, USA. Specifically, we ask whether alleles that are apparently favoured in northern populations are also favoured early in the spring, and decrease in frequency from the spring to autumn with the population expansion. We use SNP data collected for 46 metabolic genes and 128 SNPs representing the central metabolic pathway and examine for the aggregate SNP allele frequencies whether the association of allele change with latitude and that with increasing days of spring-autumn season are reversed. Testing by random permutation, we observe a highly significant negative correlation between these associations that is consistent with this expectation. This correlation is stronger when we confine our analysis to only those alleles that show significant latitudinal changes. This pattern is not caused by association with chromosomal inversions. When data are resampled using SNPs for amino acid change the relationship is not significant but is supported when SNPs associated with cis-expression are only considered. Our results suggest that climate factors driving latitudinal molecular variation in a metabolic pathway are related to those operating on a seasonal level within populations.

Adaptation, Physiological↗

PubMed2006

Functional conservatism in mitochondrial evolution: insight from hybridization of arctic and brook charrs.

To assess the potential adaptive value of mtDNA, we evaluated functional properties and thermal sensitivity of key mitochondrial enzymes in two species that have originally evolved in different thermal environments (arctic charr, Salvelinus alpinus, and brook charr, S. fontinalis), as well as in their hybrids. We measured the activity of two enzymes of the electron transport system (cytochrome c oxidase and NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase), one enzyme of the mitochondrial matrix (citrate synthase), and one enzyme of the anaerobic glycolysis (lactate dehydrogenase) in the red muscle at three temperatures (6 degrees C, 12 degrees C and 18 degrees C). Surprisingly, the species presented no significant differences in enzyme activity, thermal sensitivity or thermostability of key metabolic enzymes even though they evolved in different thermal environments and present important differences in amino acid sequences. It seems that amino acid substitutions between those species have minor impact on the functional properties of mitochondrial enzymes studied. The thermal sensitivity results (Q(10)) obtained for inner-membrane mitochondrial enzymes differed somewhat from those of mitochondrial matrix or cytosolic enzymes. This result indicates the modulation of thermal sensitivity of all mitochondrial inner-membrane processes by a common parameter, which could be the structural and functional properties of membrane phospholipids.

Adaptation, Physiological↗