Saint-Amant L, Drapeau P
Centre for Research in Neuroscience, Montreal General Hospital Research Institute, Montréal, Québec, Canada H3G 1A4.
Neuron. 2001 Sep 27;31(6):1035-46. doi: 10.1016/s0896-6273(01)00416-0.
There is a need to understand the mechanisms of neural synchronization during development because correlated rhythmic activity is thought to be critical for the establishment of proper connectivity. The relative importance of chemical and electrical synapses for synchronization of electrical activity during development is unclear. We examined the activity patterns of identified spinal neurons at the onset of motor activity in zebrafish embryos. Rhythmic activity appeared early and persisted upon blocking chemical neurotransmission but was abolished by inhibitors of gap junctions. Paired recordings revealed that active spinal neurons were electrically coupled and formed a simple network of motoneurons and a subset of interneurons. Thus, the earliest spinal central pattern generator consists of synchronously active, electrically coupled neurons.
有必要了解发育过程中神经同步的机制，因为相关的节律性活动被认为对建立适当的连接至关重要。化学突触和电突触在发育过程中对电活动同步的相对重要性尚不清楚。我们研究了斑马鱼胚胎运动活动开始时已识别的脊髓神经元的活动模式。节律性活动出现得很早，在阻断化学神经传递后仍持续存在，但被缝隙连接抑制剂消除。配对记录显示，活跃的脊髓神经元电耦合，形成了一个由运动神经元和一部分中间神经元组成的简单网络。因此，最早的脊髓中枢模式发生器由同步活跃、电耦合的神经元组成。
