PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Carbo-Tano, Martin AU - Lapoix, Mathilde AU - Jia, Xinyu AU - Auclair, François AU - Dubuc, Réjean AU - Wyart, Claire TI - Functional coupling of the mesencephalic locomotor region and V2a reticulospinal neurons driving forward locomotion AID - 10.1101/2022.04.01.486703 DP - 2022 Jan 01 TA - bioRxiv PG - 2022.04.01.486703 4099 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/04/05/2022.04.01.486703.short 4100 - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2022/04/05/2022.04.01.486703.full AB - Locomotion in vertebrates relies on high brain centers converging onto the mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR). How the MLR recruits brainstem reticulospinal neurons (RSNs) to initiate locomotion is incompletely understood due to the challenge of recording these cells in vivo. To tackle this question, we leveraged the transparency and genetic accessibility of larval zebrafish. In this model organism, we uncovered the locus of the MLR as a small region dorsal to the locus coeruleus containing glutamatergic and cholinergic neurons. MLR stimulations reliably elicited forward bouts of controlled duration and speed. We find that the MLR elicits forward locomotion by recruiting V2a RSNs in the pontine and retropontine regions, and gradually in the medulla. Remarkably, recruited V2a RSNs in the medulla act as maintain cells encoding speed of forward locomotion. Altogether, our study reveals that the MLR recruits genetically-identified reticulospinal neurons in the medulla to control the kinematics of exploration.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.