# Neuroanatomical and molecular architecture of high- and low-level circuits controlling orofacial movements

> **NIH NIH U19** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO · 2024 · $396,323

## Abstract

Project 4 Summary
 Motor circuits in the vertebrate brain are arranged hierarchically. Low-level circuits in the
brainstem and spinal cord – such as the oscillators and pattern generators that control breathing
and locomotion – can autonomously generate basic motor patterns. High-level motor circuits allow
animals to learn and adapt movements, detect and correct errors, predict the cost and benefits of
actions, and assemble movements into complex sequences to attain behavioral goals over long
time scales. High-level circuits do not generally control movements directly, rather, they engage
and coordinate the basic motor actions produced by low-level circuits during complex behavior.
Low-level circuits in turn integrate an array of inputs from many high-level areas to synthesize the
motor commands that drive motoneurons and muscles.
 In this Project, we focus on a molecular and anatomical dissection of the structure of high-
and low-level circuits that are responsible for controlling orofacial movements, and the structure
of the circuits connecting high- and low-levels of the motor system hierarchy. Orofacial
movements are amongst the most precisely controlled movements within the mammalian
repertoire for movements and support behaviors most critical for survival – the consumption of
food and water, respiration, and communication. Using a suite of tools for viral genetic circuit
tracing, whole-brain imaging, single-neuron reconstruction, and molecular labeling, we will first
determine the architecture of low-level circuitry in the mouse medulla responsible for orofacial
movement at the level of single-cell axonal morphologies. Second, we will determine the brain-
wide distribution of cells that are synaptically connected to low-level orofacial motor circuits and
responsible for their control. Third, we will determine the structure of descending pathways from
higher-order orofacial motor regions that connect to low-level medullar circuits. Finally, we will
determine which elements of low-level motor circuits are under direct high-level control at the level
of molecularly defined cell types.
 All told, this investigation will provide a blueprint of a critical motor system in the mammalian
brain across levels of the motor system hierarchy.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10930310
- **Project number:** 1U19NS137920-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO
- **Principal Investigator:** Michael Nicholas Economo
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $396,323
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-15 → 2029-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10930310

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10930310, Neuroanatomical and molecular architecture of high- and low-level circuits controlling orofacial movements (1U19NS137920-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-12 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10930310. Licensed CC0.

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