Classical conditioning of nictitating membrane (NM) responses in rabbits is a robust model learning system, and experimental evidence indicates that conditioned responses (CRs) are controlled by the cerebellum. It is unknown whether cerebellar control signals deal directly with the complex nonlinearities of the plant (blink-related muscles and peripheral tissues) or whether the plant is lineari...

Classical conditioning of nictitating membrane (NM) responses in rabbits is a robust model learning system, and experimental evidence indicates that conditioned responses (CRs) are controlled by the cerebellum. It is unknown whether cerebellar control signals deal directly with the complex non-linearities of the plant (blink-related muscles and peripheral tissues), or whether the plant is linea...

During walking, maintenance and coordination of activity in leg motoneurons requires intersegmental signal transfer. In a semi-intact preparation of the stick insect we studied membrane potential modulations in mesothoracic (middle leg) motoneurons and local premotor non-spiking interneurons that were induced by stepping of a front leg on a treadmill. The activity in motoneurons ipsilateral and...

The effect of increased impulse activity upon voltage-dependent Ca2+ currents was studied in the cell body of a crayfish phasic motoneuron using two-electrode voltage-clamp technique. Increased electrical activity in this relatively inactive motoneuron produces a short-term and long-term reduction in the voltage-dependent Ca2+ current. Both forms of activity-dependent reduction in Ca2+ current ...

Alternative pre-mRNA splicing is a central element of eukaryotic gene expression. Its deregulation can lead to disease, and methods to change splice site selection are developed as potential therapies. Spinal muscular atrophy is caused by the loss of the SMN1 (survival of motoneuron 1) gene. A therapeutic avenue for spinal muscular atrophy treatment is to promote exon 7 inclusion of the almost ...

During walking, maintenance and coordination of activity in leg motoneurons requires intersegmental signal transfer. In a semi-intact preparation of the stick insect, we studied membrane potential modulations in mesothoracic (middle leg) motoneurons and local premotor nonspiking interneurons that were induced by stepping of a front leg on a treadmill. The activity in motoneurons ipsi- and contr...

We experimentally altered the timing of respiratory motoneuron activity as a means to modulate and better understand otherwise hidden human central neural and hemodynamic oscillatory mechanisms. We recorded the electrocardiogram, finger photoplethysmographic arterial pressure, tidal carbon dioxide concentrations, and muscle sympathetic nerve activity in 13 healthy supine young men who gradually...

Saccadic eye movements result from high-frequency bursts of activity in ocular motoneurons. This phasic activity originates in premotor burst neurons. When the head is restrained, the number of action potentials in the bursts of burst neurons and motoneurons increases linearly with eye movement amplitude. However, when the head is unrestrained, the number of action potentials now increase as a ...

Apoptosis is a hallmark of motoneuron diseases such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) [1]. In a widely used mouse model of motoneuron disease (progressive motor neuronopathy or pmn) [2-4], transgenic expression of the anti-apoptotic bcl-2 gene [5] or treatment with glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor [6] prevents the apoptosis of the motoneuron soma; ho...

Low levels of the survival motor neuron protein (SMN) cause the disease spinal muscular atrophy. A primary characteristic of this disease is motoneuron dysfunction and paralysis. Understanding why motoneurons are affected by low levels of SMN will lend insight into this disease and to motoneuron biology in general. Motoneurons in zebrafish smn mutants develop abnormally; however, it is unclear ...