Falgairolle Melanie, O'Donovan Michael J
Section on Developmental Neurobiology, NINDS, NIH, Bethesda MD 20892, USA.
Curr Opin Physiol. 2019 Apr;8:50-55. doi: 10.1016/j.cophys.2018.12.009. Epub 2019 Jan 2.
Motoneurons are known to be an essential component of central pattern generators in invertebrates, but it is only recently that they have been shown to play a similar role in vertebrate locomotor circuits. Here, we review early experiments implicating motoneurons in the genesis of spontaneous motor activity in development and more recent experiments identifying motoneurons as important regulators of locomotor activity in the adult zebrafish and in the neonatal mouse spinal cord. We discuss the mechanisms responsible for these actions, the experimental challenges in studying the role of motoneurons in the mammalian spinal cord and the functional significance of the excitatory influence of motoneuron activity on locomotor behavior.
已知运动神经元是无脊椎动物中枢模式发生器的重要组成部分，但直到最近才发现它们在脊椎动物的运动回路中也发挥着类似作用。在此，我们回顾了早期实验，这些实验表明运动神经元在发育过程中自发运动活动的产生中起作用，以及最近的实验，这些实验确定运动神经元是成年斑马鱼和新生小鼠脊髓中运动活动的重要调节因子。我们讨论了这些作用的机制、研究运动神经元在哺乳动物脊髓中作用时面临的实验挑战，以及运动神经元活动对运动行为的兴奋性影响的功能意义。
