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Organization of the Spinal Locomotor Network in Neonatal Rat

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Neurobiology of Spinal Cord Injury

Part of the book series: Contemporary Neuroscience ((CNEURO))

Abstract

Among the various models used for studying the generation of rhythmic motor behaviors (1),the locomotor system in all its various forms (walking, flight, swimming, etc.), has been the favorite. From studies on mammalian spinal cord at the beginning of the century (2,3),it has been postulated that the central nervous system has the endogenous capability of generating rhythmic motor activities (for an extensive review, see ref. 4). The generation of these complex motor patterns does not require sensory feedback, as shown in many in vitro preparations of isolated nervous systems or in decerebrated/spinal curarized animals in which a fictive motor pattern can be elicited. Moreover, in the last 30 years, convergent information from many invertebrate and vertebrate preparations has unambiguously confirmed the idea that defined neuronal networks organize motor behaviors and has led to the concept of a central pattern generator (CPG) (5).

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  1. Jean-René Cazalets
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Neurology and Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Robert G. Kalb MD

  2. Department of Neurology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Stephen M. Strittmatter MD, PhD

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Cazalets, JR. (2000). Organization of the Spinal Locomotor Network in Neonatal Rat. In: Kalb, R.G., Strittmatter, S.M. (eds) Neurobiology of Spinal Cord Injury. Contemporary Neuroscience. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-200-5_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-59259-200-5_4

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