心臓と肺を監視・制御する単一ニューロンを突き止める(Locating single neurons that monitor and regulate the heart and lungs)

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2024-03-24 スイス連邦工科大学ローザンヌ校(EPFL)

心臓と肺を監視・制御する単一ニューロンを突き止める(Locating single neurons that monitor and regulate the heart and lungs)© iStock / PALMIHELP

脳は、体の重要な信号を常に監視し、必要に応じて呼吸や心拍数を調整する。しかし、これまで呼吸と心拍数を調節する神経細胞は直接観察されていなかった。EPFLの神経科学者らは、脳手術中の脳記録技術により、これらの神経細胞を初めて人間で直接観察し、心臓や肺からの重要な生理学的信号をエンコードすることを示した。この研究は、心臓と呼吸器の信号が脳の深層部に影響を与えることを初めて明らかにし、心身のコミュニケーションが深部脳でどのように行われるかを示唆している。

<関連情報>

視床と視床下核の単一ニューロンがヒトの心臓と呼吸の信号を処理する Single neurons in the thalamus and subthalamic nucleus process cardiac and respiratory signals in humans

Emanuela De Falco , Marco Solcà , Fosco Bernasconi, +7, and Olaf Blanke
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  Published:March 7, 2024
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2316365121

Significance

Internal bodily signals, like cardio-respiratory ones, are constantly transmitted from the body to the brain ensuring self-regulation of the organism. Subcortical brain regions are particularly important for this body–brain communication, yet their processing of internal bodily signals in humans is largely unknown. Studying the activity of single neurons in three subcortical regions in humans (two thalamic nuclei and the subthalamic nucleus), we found that a large portion of neurons was modulated by either the heartbeat, the respiration, or the cardiac cycle duration, while the prevalence of those signals was much reduced in cortical control regions. Our study shows how vital cardio-respiratory signals are widely processed in these subcortical regions, expanding our understanding of their role in body–brain communication.

Abstract

Visceral signals are constantly processed by our central nervous system, enable homeostatic regulation, and influence perception, emotion, and cognition. While visceral processes at the cortical level have been extensively studied using non-invasive imaging techniques, very few studies have investigated how this information is processed at the single neuron level, both in humans and animals. Subcortical regions, relaying signals from peripheral interoceptors to cortical structures, are particularly understudied and how visceral information is processed in thalamic and subthalamic structures remains largely unknown. Here, we took advantage of intraoperative microelectrode recordings in patients undergoing surgery for deep brain stimulation (DBS) to investigate the activity of single neurons related to cardiac and respiratory functions in three subcortical regions: ventral intermedius nucleus (Vim) and ventral caudalis nucleus (Vc) of the thalamus, and subthalamic nucleus (STN). We report that the activity of a large portion of the recorded neurons (about 70%) was modulated by either the heartbeat, the cardiac inter-beat interval, or the respiration. These cardiac and respiratory response patterns varied largely across neurons both in terms of timing and their kind of modulation. A substantial proportion of these visceral neurons (30%) was responsive to more than one of the tested signals, underlining specialization and integration of cardiac and respiratory signals in STN and thalamic neurons. By extensively describing single unit activity related to cardiorespiratory function in thalamic and subthalamic neurons, our results highlight the major role of these subcortical regions in the processing of visceral signals.

医療・健康
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