ArticleThe Journal of physiology2009
Electrical coupling synchronises spinal motoneuron activity during swimming in hatchling Xenopus tadpoles.
Article in The Journal of physiology, 2009. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 30 citations in OpenAlex.
- Simultaneous Whole-Cell Recording and Calcium Imaging Does Not Reveal Electrically Coupled Neurons ineNeuro · 2026Article
- Spinal Basis of Direction Control during Locomotion in Larval Zebrafish.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2023Article
- A deep-dive into fictive locomotion - a strategy to probe cellular activity during speed transitions in fictively swimming zebrafish larvae.Biology open · 2022Article
- Mitochondrial ROS cause motor deficits induced by synaptic inactivity: Implications for synapse pruning.Redox biology · 2018Article
- Developmental changes in spinal neuronal properties, motor network configuration, and neuromodulation at free-swimming stages of Xenopus tadpoles.Journal of neurophysiology · 2018Article
- Motor Neurons Tune Premotor Activity in a Vertebrate Central Pattern Generator.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2017Article
- Mechanisms underlying the endogenous dopaminergic inhibition of spinal locomotor circuit function in Xenopus tadpoles.Scientific reports · 2016Article
- A population of gap junction-coupled neurons drives recurrent network activity in a developing visual circuit.Journal of neurophysiology · 2016Article
- Article
- Gap Junctions Contribute to the Regulation of Walking-Like Activity in the Adult Mudpuppy (Necturus Maculatus).PloS one · 2016Article
- Innovations in motoneuron synchrony drive rapid temporal modulations in vertebrate acoustic signaling.Journal of neurophysiology · 2012Article
- Contribution of motoneuron intrinsic properties to fictive motor pattern generation.Journal of neurophysiology · 2011Article
- Development of a spinal locomotor rheostat.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2011Article
- How neurons generate behavior in a hatchling amphibian tadpole: an outline.Frontiers in behavioral neuroscience · 2010Article
- Measured motion: searching for simplicity in spinal locomotor networks.Current opinion in neurobiology · 2009Review
- Spinal interneurons differentiate sequentially from those driving the fastest swimming movements in larval zebrafish to those driving the slowest ones.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2009Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The role of electrical coupling between neurons in the swimming rhythm generator of Xenopus embryos has been studied using pharmacological blockade of gap junctions. A conspicuous effect of 18beta-glycyrrhetinic acid (18beta-GA) and carbenoxolone, which have been shown to block electrical coupling in this preparation, was to increase the duration of ventral root bursts throughout the spinal cord during swimming. The left-right coordination, the swimming frequency and the duration of swimming episodes were not affected by concentrations of 18beta-GA which significantly increased burst durations. However, the longitudinal coupling was affected such that 18beta-GA led to a significant correlation between rostrocaudal delays and cycle periods, which is usually only present in older larval animals. Patch clamp recordings from spinal motoneurons tested whether gap junction blockers affect the spike timing and/or firing pattern of motoneurons during fictive swimming. In the presence of 18beta-GA motoneurons continued to fire a single, but broader action potential in each cycle of swimming, and the timing of their spikes relative to the ventral root burst became more variable. 18beta-GA had no detectable effect on the resting membrane potential of motoneurons, but led to a significant increase in input resistance, consistent with the block of gap junctions. This effect did not result in increased firing during swimming, despite the fact that multiple spikes can occur in response to current injection. Applications of 18beta-GA at larval stage 42 had no discernible effect on locomotion. The results, which suggest that electrical coupling primarily functions to synchronize activity in synergistic motoneurons during embryo swimming, are discussed in the context of motor system development.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.