[Inhibitory effects of taurine on spinal cord motoneurons of the lamprey].

The influence of bath application of taurine (1-10 X 10(-4) mol/l) on the activity of motoneurons was studied in the isolated lamprey spinal cord. EPSPs evoked by stimulation of the descending tract as well as unitary EPSPs evoked by intracellular depolarization of the individual Müller axons were depressed, whereas conduction of action potentials in the Müller axons and antidromic action potentials of motoneurons were practically unchanged. A deep depression of electrical, in addition to chemical, components of EPSPs and comparison of the obtained results with the available morphological data on the structure of reticulomotor synapses in lamprey, allow concluding that the inhibitory synapses can be located near the excitatory ones on the motoneuron dendrites.