Discharge Patterns of Coxal Levator and Depressor Motoneurones of the Cockroach, Periplaneta Americana

1970 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 139-165
Author(s):  
K. G. PEARSON ◽  
J. F. ILES
Keyword(s):  
Peripheral Nerves ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
Periplaneta Americana ◽  
Motor Axon ◽  
Extracellular Recordings ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Collateral Pathways ◽  
Discharge Patterns ◽  
Flexion And Extension ◽  
Leg Movements

1. Observation of movements of the metathoracic legs of the cockroach before and after section of peripheral nerves allowed identification of muscles involved in flexion and extension of the femur. 2. Extracellular recordings from the nerves to these coxal muscles show that during rhythmic leg movements bursts of activity in a number of levator motor axons were strongly reciprocal and generally non-overlapping with those of a slow depressor motor axon. 3. These reciprocal patterns persisted after removal of all sensory input from the legs. 4. The durations of levator bursts were relatively constant compared to those of the depressor, corresponding to the behavioural observations on leg protraction time. The pattern was asymmetric: levator bursts could be generated without depressor activity, but never the reverse. 5. No evidence was found for inhibitory collateral pathways between antagonist motoneurones. 6. It is proposed that levator motoneurones are driven by a group of bursting interneurones which simultaneously inhibit the ongoing depressor activity.

Loading the Limb During Rhythmic Leg Movements Lengthens the Duration of Both Flexion and Extension in Human Infants

2007 ◽  
Vol 97 (2) ◽  
pp. 1247-1257 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristin E. Musselman ◽  
Jaynie F. Yang
Keyword(s):  
Sensory Input ◽  
Weight Bearing ◽  
Contact Forces ◽  
Cycle Period ◽  
Rhythmic Movements ◽  
Human Infants ◽  
Motor Outputs ◽  
Flexion And Extension ◽  
Leg Movements ◽  
Rule Out

Sensory input is critical for adapting motor outputs to meet environmental conditions. A ubiquitous force on all terrestrial animals is gravity. It is possible that when performing rhythmic movements, animals respond to load-related feedback in the same way by prolonging the muscle activity resisting the load. We hypothesized that for rhythmic leg movements, the period (extension or flexion) experiencing the higher load will be longer and vary more strongly with cycle period. Six rhythmic movements were studied in human infants (aged 3–10 mo), each providing different degrees of load-related feedback to the legs during flexion and extension of the limb. Kicking in supine provided similar loads (inertial) during flexion and extension. Stepping on a treadmill, kicking in supine against a foot-plate, and kicking in sitting loaded the legs during extension more than flexion, whereas air-stepping and air-stepping with ankle weights did the opposite. Video, electrogoniometry, surface electromyography, and contact forces were recorded. We showed that load-related feedback could make either the duration of flexion or extension longer. Within the tasks of stepping and kicking against a plate, infants who exerted lower forces showed shorter extensor durations than those who exerted higher forces. Because older babies tend to step with greater force, we wished to rule out the contribution of age. Eight babies (>8 mo old) were studied during stepping, in which we manipulated the amount of weight-bearing. The same effect of load was seen. Hence, the degree of loading directly affects the duration of extension in an incremental way.

Excitotoxic acid lesions of the primate subthalamic nucleus result in reduced pallidal neuronal activity during active holding

1992 ◽  
Vol 68 (5) ◽  
pp. 1859-1866 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Hamada ◽  
M. R. DeLong
Keyword(s):  
Subthalamic Nucleus ◽  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Elbow Flexion ◽  
Ibotenic Acid ◽  
Excitatory Input ◽  
Behavioral Task ◽  
Discharge Rates ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Flexion And Extension

1. To gain a better understanding of the pathophysiology of hemiballismus in primates, and to test directly the hypothesis that the subthalamopallidal projection is excitatory, we studied the effects of lesions of the subthalamic nucleus (STN) on neuronal activity in the globus pallidus (GP) of monkeys during performance of a motor behavioral task. 2. Animals were trained to position and hold a manipulandum to which torque pulses were applied, producing elbow flexion and extension. The activity of neurons in the external (GPe) and internal (GPi) segments of GP was recorded in two monkeys during task performance before and after STN lesions. The STN was lesioned by the fiber-sparing neurotoxins ibotenic acid and/or kainic acid. 3. After lesioning, the firing rate of neurons in both segments of GP, which was measured during the period of holding before torque application, was significantly decreased in both animals. The mean of discharge rates of GPi neurons decreased (P < 0.001) from 69.8 (n = 169, SD = 21.6) to 47.4 spikes/s (n = 180, SD = 22.6) after lesioning. The mean of discharge rates of GPe neurons decreased from 63.6 spikes/s (n = 218, SD = 25.1) before lesions to 41.0 spikes/s (n = 208, SD = 18.1) after lesioning. 4. These results provide further evidence that STN gives rise to a major excitatory input to both segments of the GP and support the hypothesis that dyskinesias result from decreased GPi output.

Some effects of de-afferentation on the developing amphibian nervous system

Development ◽  
1965 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-87
Author(s):  
Arthur Hughes
Keyword(s):  
Nervous System ◽  
Quantitative Study ◽  
Peripheral Nerves ◽  
Hind Limb ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
Bufo Marinus ◽  
Degenerative Changes ◽  
Normal Embryo

An adult anuran can still walk or swim if the nerves supplying one or even two limbs are de-afferentated (Gray, 1950). However, in a developing amphibian, a limb at motile stages becomes paralysed when deprived of its sensory input. A sequence of degenerative changes then follow in the cord and in peripheral nerves. Tadpoles of Bufo marinus and late embryos of Eleutherodactylus martinicensis have been submitted to this experiment; in these tropical forms the subsequent events follow rapidly. Most attention has been paid to Eleutherodactylus, on which a quantitative study of the numbers of fibres in nerves to the hind limb during development has recently been published (Hughes, 1965a). This work, together with a study of the behaviour of the normal embryo (Hughes, 1965b) has been used as a basis for the present experimental observations. The source of the embryos of E. martinicensis and the methods of culturing and observing them remain the same as in previous studies (Hughes, 1962,1964a & b, 1965a & b).

Nonspiking interneurons in walking system of the cockroach

1975 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. G. Pearson ◽  
C. R. Fourtner
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Potential ◽  
Periplaneta Americana ◽  
Rhythmic Activity ◽  
Synaptic Activity ◽  
Cobalt Sulfide ◽  
Resting Membrane Potential ◽  
Cellular Mechanisms ◽  
Metathoracic Ganglion ◽  
Nonspiking Interneurons ◽  
Leg Movements

Intracellular recordings were made from the neurites of interneurons and motoneurons in the metathoracic ganglion of the cockroach, Periplaneta americana. Many neurons were penetrated which failed to produce action potentials on the application of large depolarizing currents. Nevertheless, some of them strongly excited and/or inhibited slow motoneurons innervating leg musculature, even with weak depolariziing musculature, even with weak depolarizing currents. Cobalt-sulfide-straining of these nonspiking neurons showed them to be interneurons with their neurites contained entirely within the metathoracic ganglion. Two further characteristics of these interneurons were rapid spontaneous fluctuations in membrane potential and a low resting membrane potential. One nonspiking neuron, interneuron I, when depolarized caused a strong excitation of the set of slow levator motoneurons which discharge in bursts during stepping movements of the metathoracic leg. During rhythmic leg movements the membrane potential of interneuron I oscillated with the depolarizing phases occurring at the same time as bursts of activity in the levator motorneurons. No spiking or any other nonspiking neuron was penetrated which could excite these levator motoneurons. From all these observations we conclude that oscillations in the membrane potential of interneuron I are entirely responsible for producing the levator bursts, and thus for producing stepping movements in a walking animal. During rhythmic leg movements, bursts of activity in levator and depressor motoneurons are initiated by slow graded depolarizations. The similarity of the synaptic activity in these two types of motoneurons suggests that burst activity in the depressor motoneurons is also produced by rhythmic activity in nonspiking interneurons. The fact that no spiking neuron was found to excite the depressor motoneurons supports this conclusion. Interneuron I is also an element of the rhythm-generating system, since short depolarizing pulses applied to it during rhythmic activity could reset the thythm. Long-duration current pulses applied to interneuron I in a quiescent animal did not produce rhythmic activity. This observation, together with the finding that during rhythmic activity the slow depolarizations in interneuron I are usually terminated by IPSPs, suggests that interneuron I alone does not generate the rhythm. No spiking interneurons have yet been enccountered which influence the activity in levator motoneurons. Thus, we conclude that the rhythm is generated in a network of nonspiking interneurons. The cellular mechanisms for generating the oscillations in this network are unknown. Continued.

Neuronal control of walking: studies on insects

e-Neuroforum ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ansgar Büschges ◽  
Joachim Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Central Nervous System ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
Central Pattern Generators ◽  
Movement Direction ◽  
Coordination Pattern ◽  
Differential Processing ◽  
Neuronal Control ◽  
Pattern Generators ◽  
Leg Movements

AbstractThe control of walking in insects is to a substantial amount a function of neuronal networks in the thoracic ganglia. While descending signals from head ganglia provide general commands such as for walking direction and velocity, it is the thoracic central nervous system that controls movements of individual joints and legs. The coordination pattern of legs is velocity dependent. However, a clear stereotypic coordination pattern appears only at high velocities. In accordance with the unit burst oscillator concept, oscillatory networks (central pattern generators (CPGs)) interlocked with movement and load sensors control the timing and amplitude of joint movements. For a leg’s movements different joint CPGs of a leg are mainly coupled by proprioceptors. Differential processing of proprioceptive signals allows a task specific modulation of leg movements, for example, for changing movement direction. A switch between walking and searching movements of a leg is under local control. When stepping into a gap missing sensory input and the activation of a local command neuron evokes stereotypic searching movements of the leg.

Changes in the Activity of a CPG Neuron After the Reinforcement of an Operantly Conditioned Behavior in Lymnaea

2002 ◽  
Vol 88 (4) ◽  
pp. 1915-1923 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaynor E. Spencer ◽  
Mustapha H. Kazmi ◽  
Naweed I. Syed ◽  
Ken Lukowiak
Keyword(s):  
Operant Conditioning ◽  
Sensory Input ◽  
Lymnaea Stagnalis ◽  
Training Stimulus ◽  
Rhythmic Activity ◽  
Neural Correlates ◽  
Behavioral Changes ◽  
Conditioned Behavior ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Respiratory Behavior

We have previously shown that the aerial respiratory behavior of the mollusk Lymnaea stagnalis can be operantly conditioned, and the central pattern generating (CPG) neurons underlying this behavior have been identified. As neural correlates of operant conditioning remain poorly defined in both vertebrates and invertebrates, we have used the Lymnaea respiratory CPG to investigate neuronal changes associated with the change in behavior after conditioning. After operant conditioning of the intact animals, semi-intact preparations were dissected, so that changes in the respiratory behavior (pneumostome openings) and underlying activity of the identified CPG neuron, right pedal dorsal 1 (RPeD1), could be monitored simultaneously. RPeD1 was studied because it initiates the rhythmic activity of the CPG and receives chemo-sensory input from the pneumostome area. Pneumostome openings and RPeD1 activity were monitored both before and after a reinforcing training stimulus applied to the open pneumostome of operantly conditioned and yoked control preparations. After presentation of the reinforcing stimulus, there was a significant reduction in both breathing behavior and RPeD1 activity in operant preparations but not in yoked and naı̈ve controls. Furthermore these changes were only significant in the subgroup of operantly conditioned animals described as good learners and not in poor learners. These data strongly suggest that changes in RPeD1 activity may underlie the behavioral changes associated with the reinforcement of operant conditioning of the respiratory behavior.

scholarly journals Sympathetic neural recruitment strategies following acute intermittent hypoxia in humans

2020 ◽  
Vol 318 (5) ◽  
pp. R961-R971 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth P. Ott ◽  
Dain W. Jacob ◽  
Sarah E. Baker ◽  
Walter W. Holbein ◽  
Zachariah M. Scruggs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Intermittent Hypoxia ◽  
Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Muscle Sympathetic Nerve Activity ◽  
Burst Firing ◽  
Neural Firing ◽  
Carotid Chemoreceptors ◽  
Discharge Rates ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Discharge Patterns

We examined the effect of acute intermittent hypoxia (IH) on sympathetic neural firing patterns and the role of the carotid chemoreceptors. We hypothesized exposure to acute IH would increase muscle sympathetic nerve activity (MSNA) via an increase in action potential (AP) discharge rates and within-burst firing. We further hypothesized any change in discharge patterns would be attenuated during acute chemoreceptor deactivation (hyperoxia). MSNA (microneurography) was assessed in 17 healthy adults (11 male/6 female; 31 ± 1 yr) during normoxic rest before and after 30 min of experimental IH. Prior to and following IH, participants were exposed to 2 min of 100% oxygen (hyperoxia). AP patterns were studied from the filtered raw MSNA signal using wavelet-based methodology. Compared with baseline, multiunit MSNA burst incidence ( P < 0.01), AP incidence ( P = 0.01), and AP content per burst ( P = 0.01) were increased following IH. There was an increase in the probability of a particular AP cluster firing once ( P < 0.01) and more than once ( P = 0.03) per burst following IH. There was no effect of hyperoxia on multiunit MSNA at baseline or following IH ( P > 0.05); however, hyperoxia following IH attenuated the probability of particular AP clusters firing more than once per burst ( P < 0.01). Acute IH increases MSNA by increasing AP discharge rates and within-burst firing. A portion of the increase in within-burst firing following IH can be attributed to the carotid chemoreceptors. These data advance the mechanistic understanding of sympathetic activation following acute IH in humans.

Learning Transfer from Flexion to Extension Movements: Importance of the Final Position

Motor Control ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dusko B. Ilic ◽  
Dragan M. Mirkov ◽  
Slobodan Jaric
Keyword(s):  
Elbow Flexion ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Final Position ◽  
Variable Error ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Movement Distance ◽  
Level Of Significance ◽  
Experimental Group ◽  
Flexion And Extension

Nine subjects (experimental group) were tested on rapid elbow flexion and extension movements performed in the same final position, before and after extensive practice of the movements. Nine additional subjects (control group) were also tested, but without any practice between the tests. Comparison of the pretest and posttest results suggested that the experimental group decreased their variable error (i.e., standard deviation of the final movement position) in both practiced (elbow flexion) and nonpracticed (elbow extension) movements. The control group, however, did not improve in either of tested movements. The experimental group demonstrated lower variable error in the nonpracticed elbow extensions than the control group, while the same difference for practiced elbow flexion movements was slightly below the level of significance. The results support the importance of the final position in programming of rapid, self-terminated movements; however, they do not rule out the role of other kinetic and kinematic variables (such as movement distance).

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