The selectivity of rostroventral medulla descending control of spinal sensory inputs shifts postnatally from A fibre to C fibre evoked activity

Brainstem descending pathways control the balance of excitation and inhibition in spinal sensory networks. In adult rodents, descending inhibition is targeted to spinal neurons with a strong afferent C fibre input. Descending inhibitory control matures slowly; the first postnatal weeks are characterized by greater descending facilitation than inhibition. We report that, in contrast to adults, brainstem descending facilitation of spinal sensory neurons in young rats (postnatal day 21) is targeted to A fibre inputs. The selective inhibition of C fibre inputs observed in adults is absent at postnatal day 21. In both young and adult rats, descending inhibition or facilitation is correlated with the excitability of individual neurons, as measured by ‘wind‐up’ to repeated C fibre stimulation. The facilitation of A fibre input in early life is likely to enhance innocuous, tactile sensory inputs to the dorsal horn in the critical early postnatal weeks and thus promote activity‐dependent development of sensory networks.

• Publication year

  2014

• Venue

  Journal of Physiology

• Publication date

  2014-02-17

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1113/jphysiol.2013.267518PMID 24421353PMCID 3979610
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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