The use of state-dependent modulation of spinal reflexes as a tool to investigate the organization of spinal interneurons.
This review examines the proposition that state-dependent modulation of transmission through spinal reflex pathways can be used as an investigative tool to reveal details about the organization of spinal interneurons into functional circuits. The first set of examples includes the use of spinal and supraspinal lesions, as well as the administration of the drug l-dihydroxyphenylalanine (l-DOPA), to produce different, relatively stable "states" of the central nervous system (CNS), revealing previously unsuspected spinal pathways activated by the flexor reflex afferents (FRA). The second set of examples deals with the use of fictive locomotion and scratching to investigate the organization of oligosynaptic excitatory and inhibitory reflex pathways from cutaneous and muscle afferents. As in the first set of examples, several hitherto unknown reflex pathways have been found only during the flexion or extension phases of rhythmic locomotion, which are regarded as different CNS states. Differences in the patterns of control can be used to infer the existence of distinct sets of reflex pathway interneurons that have remarkably precise input/output relations.
Burke
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Laboratory of Neural Control, Bldg. 49, Rm. 3A50, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD 20892-4455, USA, reburke@helix.nih.gov
D000344:Afferent Pathways / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D003655:Decerebrate State; D015259:Dopamine Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007395:Interneurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D007980:Levodopa / Q000494:pharmacology; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D012018:Reflex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*
D015259:Dopamine Agents; D007980:Levodopa