The Vertebrate Brain, Evidence of Its Modular Organization and Operating System: Insights into the Brain's Basic Units of Structure, Function, and Operation and How They Influence Neuronal Signaling and Behavior

This review focuses on the neural control of feeding in Aplysia. Its purpose is to highlight distinctive features of the behavior and to describe their neural basis. In a number of molluscs, food is grasped by a radula that protracts, retracts, and hyperretracts. In Aplysia, however, hyperretraction can require afferent activation. Phase-dependent regulation of sensorimotor transmission occurs in this context. Aplysia also open and close the radula, generating egestive as well as ingestive responses. Thus, the feeding network multitasks. It has a modular organization, and behaviors are constructed by combinations of behavior-specific and behavior-independent neurons. When feeding is initially triggered in Aplysia, responses are poorly defined. Motor activity is not properly configured unless responses are repeatedly induced and modulatory neurotransmitters are released from inputs to the central patter generator (CPG). Persistent effects of modulation have interesting consequences for task switching.

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How Snakes Work: Structure, Function, and Behavior of the World’s Snakes. By Harvey B. Lillywhite. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press. $49.95. xiii + 241 p.; ill.; index. ISBN: 978-0-19-538037-8. 2014.

The Quarterly Review of Biology ◽

10.1086/682650 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 90 (3) ◽

pp. 350-350

Author(s):

Rulon W. Clark

Keyword(s):

New York ◽

Structure Function ◽

Oxford University ◽

Work Structure ◽

And Behavior ◽

Oxford University Press

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Brain plasticity in response to short-term exposure to corticosterone in larval amphibians

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/cjz-2021-0031 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Elizabeth S. Cha ◽

Madison T. Uhrin ◽

Sara J McClelland ◽

Sarah Woodley

Keyword(s):

Neural Development ◽

Brain Plasticity ◽

Leopard Frog ◽

Brain Morphology ◽

Vertebrate Brain ◽

Larval Amphibians ◽

Short Term Exposure ◽

Functional Consequences ◽

And Behavior ◽

Brain Shape

Exposure to stressors and elevation of glucocorticoid hormones such as corticosterone (CORT) has widespread effects on vertebrate brain development. Previous studies have shown that exposure to environmental stressors alters larval amphibian brain morphology and behavior, yet the effects of CORT on amphibian neural development are still unknown. We exposed prometamorphic Northern Leopard Frog (Lithobates pipiens (Schreber, 1782)) tadpoles for 7 days to a concentration of exogenous CORT (45.56 g/L ) that produced physiologically-relevant increases in plasma CORT. This brief exposure to CORT, relatively late in development, resulted in a significantly larger diencephalon width (relative to body mass) when compared to controls. Although we were unable to detect changes in behavior or body morphology, our results indicate that brain shape is modulated by exposure to CORT. More studies are needed to better understand what accounts for the CORT-induced change in brain shape as well as the functional consequences of these changes.

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Evolution of the Vertebrate Brain and Behavior

Comparative Psychology ◽

10.4324/9781003080701-5 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 131-178

Author(s):

Mauricio R. Papini

Keyword(s):

Vertebrate Brain ◽

Brain And Behavior ◽

And Behavior

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Function of Ca2+-/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase IV in Ca2+-stimulated neuronal signaling and behavior

Science China Life Sciences ◽

10.1007/s11427-014-4781-4 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 58 (1) ◽

pp. 6-13 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

ZiXiang Song ◽

Qi Chen ◽

Qi Ding ◽

Fei Zheng ◽

ChengWei Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Protein Kinase ◽

Dependent Protein Kinase ◽

Neuronal Signaling ◽

Dependent Protein ◽

And Behavior

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Structure–function subsystem models of female and male forebrain networks integrating cognition, affect, behavior, and bodily functions

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.2017733117 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 117 (49) ◽

pp. 31470-31481

Author(s):

Larry W. Swanson ◽

Joel D. Hahn ◽

Olaf Sporns

Keyword(s):

Structure Function ◽

Medial Forebrain Bundle ◽

Mirror Image ◽

Sexually Dimorphic ◽

Large Set ◽

Vertebrate Brain ◽

Axonal Connections ◽

Voluntary Behavior ◽

The Right ◽

Behavior And Cognition

The forebrain is the first of three primary vertebrate brain subdivisions. Macrolevel network analysis in a mammal (rat) revealed that the 466 gray matter regions composing the right and left sides of the forebrain are interconnected by 35,738 axonal connections forming a large set of overlapping, hierarchically arranged subsystems. This hierarchy is bilaterally symmetrical and sexually dimorphic, and it was used to create a structure–function conceptual model of intraforebrain network organization. Two mirror image top-level subsystems are presumably the most fundamental ontogenetically and phylogenetically. They essentially form the right and left forebrain halves and are relatively weakly interconnected. Each top-level subsystem in turn has two second-level subsystems. A ventromedial subsystem includes the medial forebrain bundle, functionally coordinating instinctive survival behaviors with appropriate physiological responses and affect. This subsystem has 26/24 (female/male) lowest-level subsystems, all using a combination of glutamate and GABA as neurotransmitters. In contrast, a dorsolateral subsystem includes the lateral forebrain bundle, functionally mediating voluntary behavior and cognition. This subsystem has 20 lowest-level subsystems, and all but 4 use glutamate exclusively for their macroconnections; no forebrain subsystems are exclusively GABAergic. Bottom-up subsystem analysis is a powerful engine for generating testable hypotheses about mechanistic explanations of brain function, behavior, and mind based on underlying circuit organization. Targeted computational (virtual) lesioning of specific regions of interest associated with Alzheimer’s disease, clinical depression, and other disorders may begin to clarify how the effects spread through the entire forebrain network model.

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Structure-Function Analysis of the TibA Self-Associating Autotransporter Reveals a Modular Organization

Infection and Immunity ◽

10.1128/iai.01129-10 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 79 (5) ◽

pp. 1826-1832 ◽

Cited By ~ 15

Author(s):

Jean-Philippe Côté ◽

Michael Mourez

Keyword(s):

Structure Function ◽

Function Analysis ◽

Extracellular Domain ◽

Site Directed Mutagenesis ◽

Modular Organization ◽

Adhesion Properties ◽

Content Type ◽

C Terminus ◽

Function Relationship ◽

Insertion Mutants

ABSTRACTSome enterotoxigenicEscherichia colistrains express the TibA adhesin/invasin, a multifunctional autotransporter that mediates the autoaggregation of bacteria, biofilm formation, adhesion to cultured epithelial cells, and invasion of these cells. To elucidate the structure-function relationship in TibA, we generated mutants by transposon-based linker scanning mutagenesis and by site-directed mutagenesis. Several insertion mutants had a defect in either adhesion or autoaggregation. Mutants with a defect in autoaggregation were found in the N-terminal half of the extracellular domain, while mutants with a defect in adhesion were found in the C-terminal half. The deletion of the putative N-terminal autoaggregation domain abolished the autoaggregation of the bacteria but did not affect adhesion. The deletion of a proline-rich region located at the C terminus of the extracellular domain abolished the adhesion properties of TibA but did not affect invasion. This finding suggests that adhesion and invasion may rely on distinct mechanisms. Thus, our results reveal that TibA possesses a modular organization, with the extracellular domain being separated into an autoaggregation module and an adhesion module.

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