Role of central terminals of primary afferents in the maintenance of coordinated spontaneous activity of dorsal horn neurons [Póster]

IBRO 2023. 11th Word Congress of Neuroscience, 9-13 september 2023, Granada, SpainThe excitability of the central terminals of primary afferents (PA) is critical in regulating neurotransmitter release to second-order neurons located in the spinal cord. Primary afferent depolarisation (PAD) is an important mechanism of presynaptic inhibition that regulates somatosensory inputs to the spinal cord, and primary afferent hyperpolarisation (PAH) can produce opposite effects (1,2). In addition, activity in primary afferents may serve as a mechanism for spreading excitation to spinal cord neurons, thereby maintaining the excitability of spinal cord circuits (3,4). Our aim was to investigate how changes in the excitability at PA terminals modify activity in spinal circuits. By expressing opto- and chemogenetic tools under the control of the advillin promoter, the excitability of central terminals of PA was manipulated to test the influence of these manoeuvres on the rhythmic spontaneous and induced activity recorded from dorsal roots and dorsal horn neurons.Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovació