Neural Control of Swimming in Zebrafish

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***The nervous system ensures that we move properly. In order to do so, the nervous system must set the pace at which we move, coordinate all of our muscles so that they act in an organized manner, and ensure that the right and the left side of our body work in tandem. These tasks are accomplished by neurons, most notably those residing in the spinal cord. At present, we do not have a good grasp as to how spinal neurons operate to control movement. As a new investigator in the Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, I am establishing an integrative and multidisciplinary research program whose long-term goal is to determine the roles played by neurons in generating movement and how their neuronal activity meshes seamlessly to properly control movement.***The zebrafish is an emerging animal model that has been used to gain a better understanding of swimming in aquatic species and over-ground locomotion in terrestrial animals. Fundamental principles by which the nervous system operates in zebrafish have been shown to be evolutionarily conserved in other vertebrates such as mammals due to the presence of neurons that have analogs in amphibians and mammals. Zebrafish have unique features such as the transparency of their larvae and the availability of many genetic tools that make it ideal for studying the neural control of movement. My objective for this proposal is to understand how swimming is generated by neurons in the spinal cord and I will exploit features of zebrafish to accomplish this. My research group will determine the frequency of activity of spinal neurons through neural recordings. This frequency of activity will be correlated to that of body oscillations that propel zebrafish. We will also use a novel technique where we can selective manipulate neuronal activity of spinal neurons while fish are swimming. By shining light through the skin of transparent zebrafish larvae, we can manipulate the neuronal activity of neurons genetically modified to respond to light. This allows us to determine how manipulating the activity of neurons during swimming will modify the swimming patterns of the whole fish. As a consequence of these research approaches, we will be uniquely positioned to determine which neurons are responsible for fundamental features of swimming such as setting the frequency of body oscillations, for propagating these oscillations from head to tail, and for coordinating the left and right side of the body. ***Given the similarities between zebrafish and humans nervous systems, our studies will improve our understanding of how the nervous system functions to coordinate movement in humans. This proposal will establish a program of neurobiological research that will train young researchers to employ cutting-edge techniques in an emerging animal model. In addition, our findings can be applied to the study of fundamental neural rhythms involved in breathing, sleep-wake cycles and cognition, amongst others. *** *** **