Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Machhada A
PROVIDER: S-EPMC5454375 | biostudies-literature | 2017 May
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Machhada Asif A Trapp Stefan S Marina Nephtali N Stephens Robert C M RCM Whittle John J Lythgoe Mark F MF Kasparov Sergey S Ackland Gareth L GL Gourine Alexander V AV
Nature communications 20170518
Indirect measures of cardiac vagal activity are strongly associated with exercise capacity, yet a causal relationship has not been established. Here we show that in rats, genetic silencing of the largest population of brainstem vagal preganglionic neurons residing in the brainstem's dorsal vagal motor nucleus dramatically impairs exercise capacity, while optogenetic recruitment of the same neuronal population enhances cardiac contractility and prolongs exercise endurance. These data provide dire ...[more]