Berg Rune W, Chen Ming-Teh, Huang Hsueh-Chen, Hsiao Min-Chi, Cheng Henrich
Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, 12.5.5, University of Copenhagen, Blegdamsvej 3, DK-2200, Copenhagen N, Denmark.
J Neurosci Methods. 2009 Aug 30;182(1):49-54. doi: 10.1016/j.jneumeth.2009.05.023. Epub 2009 Jun 6.
Extracellular recordings from single units in the brain, for example the neocortex, have proven feasible in moving, awake rats, but have not yet been possible in the spinal cord. Single-unit activity during locomotor-like activity in reduced preparations from adult cats and rats have provided valuable insights for the development of hypotheses about the organization of functional networks in the spinal cord. However, since reduced preparations could result in spurious conclusions, it is crucial to test these hypotheses in animals that are awake and behaving. Furthermore, unresolved issues such as how muscle force precision is achieved by motoneurons as well as how spinal neurons are spatio-temporally correlated are better to investigate in the conscious and behaving animal. We have therefore developed procedures to implant arrays of extracellular recording electrodes in the lumbar spinal cord of the adult rat for long-term studies. In addition, we implanted pairs of electromyographic electrodes in the hindlimbs for the purpose of monitoring locomotion. With our technique, we obtained stable long-term recordings of spinal units, even during locomotion. We suggest this as a novel method for investigating motor pattern-generating circuitry in the spinal cord.
例如，在运动的清醒大鼠大脑（如大脑新皮质）中对单个神经元进行细胞外记录已被证明是可行的，但在脊髓中尚未实现。在成年猫和大鼠的简化标本中，类似运动活动期间的单神经元活动为有关脊髓功能网络组织的假说发展提供了有价值的见解。然而，由于简化标本可能会得出虚假结论，因此在清醒且有行为的动物中检验这些假说至关重要。此外，诸如运动神经元如何实现肌肉力量精确控制以及脊髓神经元如何在时空上相互关联等未解决的问题，在有意识且有行为的动物中进行研究更为合适。因此，我们开发了在成年大鼠腰脊髓中植入细胞外记录电极阵列的程序，用于长期研究。此外，我们在后肢植入了成对的肌电图电极，用于监测运动。利用我们的技术，即使在运动期间，我们也获得了脊髓神经元的稳定长期记录。我们认为这是一种研究脊髓中运动模式生成电路的新方法。
