Motorneurons are Central Processing Units able to generate sequences of action potentials whose frequency and duration are the result of algebraic sum of inward and outward currents crossing their membranes. On a macroscopic scale the activity of these Units will result in muscle contraction. This lecture starts by focusing on the action potential, the motor unit and some integrative aspects of...

The coordination of multi-muscle movements originates in the circuitry that regulates the firing patterns of spinal motorneurons. Sensory neurons rely on the musculotopic organization of motorneurons to establish orderly connections, prompting us to examine whether the intraspinal circuitry that coordinates motor activity likewise uses cell position as an internal wiring reference. We generated...

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Individual differences in the temporal dynamics of the haemodynamic response can reflect cortical excitation and can reveal underlying cortical physiology. Here, we show differences in the shape of the haemodynamic response that are dependent on stimulus parameters. Two sets of visual stimuli were used varying in parameters that are known to manipulate the haemodynamic response in the visual co...

introduction: anodal transcranial direct current stimulation (a-tdcs) of the primary motor cortex (m1) has been shown to be effective in increasing corticomotor excitability. 　methods: we investigated whether longer applications of a-tdcs coincide with greater increases in corticomotor excitability compared to shorter application of a-tdcs. ten right-handed healthy participants received one ses...

the purpose of the this study was to investigate the effect of direct current on montoneuron reflex exitability. thirty six subjects (18 males, 18 females) 19.36 years of age ( x= 24.06, sd= 3.63) participated in this study. the reflex excitability of soleus motoneruons was assessed by measuring the amount of change in the peak to peak ampitude of the h-reflex before and after direct current wa...

Two Caenorhabditis elegans genes, unc-8 and sup-40, have been newly identified, by genetic criteria, as regulating ion channel function in motorneurons. Two dominant unc-8 alleles cause motorneuron swelling similar to that of other neuronal types in dominant mutants of the deg-1 gene family, which is homologous to a mammalian gene family encoding amiloride-sensitive sodium channel subunits. As ...