title: Activity of cervical neurons during forelimb fictive locomotion in decerebrate cats.
abstract: Unit activities were recorded from cervical neurons during forelimb fictive locomotion. Rhythmic activities were evaluated by onset and termination. Rhythmically-active neurons were classified into 4 major groups: (1) <f> neurons, the active periods covered the whole flexor phase; (2) f+e neurons, the active periods commenced prior to and terminated in the extensor phase; (3) e neurons, the active periods appeared within the extensor phase; (4) e+f neurons, the active periods commenced prior to and terminated in the flexor phase. In addition, a few neurons that were not classified were observed. Neuronal behaviors seemed to suggest that <f> and e+f were grouped "flexor-like," while e and f+e were grouped as "extensor-like." "Flexor-like" neurons were likely distributed in the dorsal (lamina V-VI) and rostral (C5-C6) region, whereas "extensor-like" neurons distributed mainly in the ventral (lamina VI-VII) and caudal (C7-T1) region. Some neurons showed rhythmic activities prior to appearance of fictive locomotion (prelude rhythm). The structure of the central pattern generator was discussed.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Tsukuba University, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yamaguchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D003655:Decerebrate State / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004594:Electrophysiology; D005552:Forelimb; D007395:Interneurons / Q000502:physiology; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology*; D009119:Muscle Contraction / Q000502:physiology; D009333:Neck; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*