Internal body motion sensor detected in zebrafish

To move in space, a person needs a sense of his own movement in time and

space.It is provided by proprioceptive organs, which are believed to be found only in the periphery. Proprioception, also known as kinesthesia, is the muscular sense of the sense of the position of parts of one's own body relative to each other and in space. Although it is known that the central nervous system undergoes constant changes in shape and tension during body movements, it remains unclear whether and how these changes can be detected.

Using adult zebrafish asmodel organism and a combination of advanced techniques, including registration, mechanical stimulation and sequencing of individual cells, scientists have shown the existence of mechanosensory neurons embedded in enlarged spinal cord tissues. They monitor voltage changes centrally as a kind of motion sensor.

One of the advantages of such a motion sensordirectly in the spinal cord is that it is located close to the circuits responsible for the movements it detects. The central proprioceptor organ provides quick feedback directly to the contours of the spine. This is what allows the zebrafish to move smoothly and efficiently.

The spinal cord of other animals, including humans, also undergoes voltage changes during body movements, and there are groups of neurons that can potentially detect such signals.

In future research, scientists plancheck if there are proprioceptors in the mammalian spinal cord. If so, the task of scientists is to find out how they become active when performing various motor tasks. This will ultimately improve scientists' understanding of movement disorders.

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