Descending networks transform command signals into population motor control

Jonas Braun, Femke Hurtak, Sibo Wang-Chen and Pavan Ramdya ()
Additional contact information
Jonas Braun: EPFL
Femke Hurtak: EPFL
Sibo Wang-Chen: EPFL
Pavan Ramdya: EPFL

Nature, 2024, vol. 630, issue 8017, 686-694

Abstract: Abstract To convert intentions into actions, movement instructions must pass from the brain to downstream motor circuits through descending neurons (DNs). These include small sets of command-like neurons that are sufficient to drive behaviours1—the circuit mechanisms for which remain unclear. Here we show that command-like DNs in Drosophila directly recruit networks of additional DNs to orchestrate behaviours that require the active control of numerous body parts. Specifically, we found that command-like DNs previously thought to drive behaviours alone2–4 in fact co-activate larger populations of DNs. Connectome analyses and experimental manipulations revealed that this functional recruitment can be explained by direct excitatory connections between command-like DNs and networks of interconnected DNs in the brain. Descending population recruitment is necessary for behavioural control: DNs with many downstream descending partners require network co-activation to drive complete behaviours and drive only simple stereotyped movements in their absence. These DN networks reside within behaviour-specific clusters that inhibit one another. These results support a mechanism for command-like descending control in which behaviours are generated through the recruitment of increasingly large DN networks that compose behaviours by combining multiple motor subroutines.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-07523-9

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