# Spinal circuits for mechanical itch and light touch

> **NIH NIH R35** · SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES · 2024 · $1,158,379

## Abstract

Animals and humans display a vast repertoire of behaviors, many of which are generated by motor
networks in the spinal cord. This coordinated spinal motor activity is strongly regulated by descending
motor control pathways and sensory afferent feedback. Sensory feedback is essential for both
stereotypical protective reflexes, such as limb withdrawal, and for regulating ongoing motor behaviors,
such as walking, running, and reaching. Interestingly, many descending motor control pathways converge
on interneurons in the dorsal spinal cord that transmit sensory information, indicating a prominent role for
these cells in motor control. Currently, very little is known about how sensorimotor networks in the spinal
cord are organized at a cellular level. Efforts proposed here will use cutting-edge genetic manipulations
and sensitive behavioral assays to deconstruct the cellular composition and synaptic connectivity of these
sensorimotor circuits. The goals of this study are to functionally define the neuronal cell types that make
up the sensorimotor circuitry and to generate a connectivity map that can then be used to construct a
working model of how the sensorimotor circuitry is organized. Intersectional mouse genetics will be used
to target specific populations of spinal neurons and ask whether inactivating or activating them with
chemogenetic and optogenetic reporters perturbs specific sensorimotor pathways, including those that
generate corrective behaviors during ongoing movement and noxious mechanical pathways that induce
protective reflexes. Studies of protective and corrective reflexes will be complemented with an analysis of
the sensory circuitry for the control of forelimb reaching and grasping behaviors. These studies, when
completed, will provide new insights into the organization of the spinal reflex circuitry, and improve our
understanding of the cellular computations that underlie sensorimotor transformation in the spinal cord.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10835933
- **Project number:** 5R35NS111643-06
- **Recipient organization:** SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES
- **Principal Investigator:** Martyn D Goulding
- **Activity code:** R35 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $1,158,379
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-05-01 → 2027-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10835933

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10835933, Spinal circuits for mechanical itch and light touch (5R35NS111643-06). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10835933. Licensed CC0.

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