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Science 7 November 1997:
Vol. 278. no. 5340, pp. 1122 - 1125
DOI: 10.1126/science.278.5340.1122
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Reports

Role of Sensory-Evoked NMDA Plateau Potentials in the Initiation of Locomotion

Gonzalo Viana Di Prisco, Edouard Pearlstein, Richard Robitaille, Réjean Dubuc *

Reticulospinal (RS) neurons constitute the main descending motor system of lampreys. This study reports on natural conditions whereby N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-mediated plateau potentials were elicited and associated with the onset of locomotion. Reticulospinal neurons responded in a linear fashion to mild skin stimulation. With stronger stimuli, large depolarizing plateaus with spiking activity were elicited and were accompanied by swimming movements. Calcium imaging revealed sustained intracellular calcium rise upon sensory stimulation. Blocking NMDA receptors on RS neurons prevented the plateau potentials as well as the associated rise in intracellular calcium. Thus, the activation of NMDA receptors mediates a switch from sensory-reception mode to a motor command mode in RS neurons.

G. Viana Di Prisco, E. Pearlstein, R. Robitaille, Département de Physiologie, Centre de Recherche en Sciences Neurologiques, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H3C 3J7.
R. Dubuc, Département de Kinanthropologie, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, C.P. 8888, succursale Centre-Ville, Québec, Canada, H3C 3P8 and Département de Physiologie, Centre de Recherche en Sciences Neurologiques, Université de Montréal, C.P. 6128, succursale Centre-Ville, Montréal, Québec, Canada, H3C 3J7.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: dubucr{at}ere.umontreal.ca

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