Coordinated excitatory effect of GABAergic interneurons on three feeding motor programs in the mollusk Clione limacina.

Coordination between different motor centers is essential for the orderly production of all complex behaviors. Understanding the mechanisms of such coordination during feeding behavior in the carnivorous mollusk Clione limacina is the main goal of the current study. A bilaterally symmetrical interneuron identified in the cerebral ganglia and designated Cr-BM neuron produced coordinated activation of neural networks controlling three main feeding structures: prey capture appendages called buccal cones, chitinous hooks used for prey extraction from the shell, and the toothed radula. The Cr-BM neuron produced strong excitatory inputs to motoneurons controlling buccal cone protraction. It also induced a prominent activation of the neural networks controlling radula and hook rhythmic movements. In addition to the overall activation, Cr-BM neuron synaptic inputs to individual motoneurons coordinated their activity in a phase-dependent manner. The Cr-BM neuron produced depolarizing inputs to the radula protractor and hook retractor motoneurons, which are active in one phase, and hyperpolarizing inputs to the radula retractor and hook protractor motoneurons, which are active in the opposite phase. The Cr-BM neuron used GABA as its neurotransmitter. It was found to be GABA-immunoreactive in the double-labeling experiments. Exogenous GABA mimicked the effects produced by Cr-BM neuron on the postsynaptic neurons. The GABA antagonists bicuculline and picrotoxin blocked Cr-BM neuron-induced PSPs. The prominent coordinating effect produced by the Cr-BM neuron on the neural networks controlling three major elements of the feeding behavior in Clione suggests that this interneuron is an important part of the higher-order system for the feeding behavior.